The Only Battle of Camp

Now that Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez are in the fold for the Yankees, there remains only one true positional battle for an open roster spot, the last reliever slot.  The Yankees can go with several options here.  Adam Warren, David Phelps, and D.J. Mitchell are pretty much Major League ready.  They could give Joe Girardi innings out of the bullpen.  However, it is more likely that a second lefty will be joining Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Cory Wade, and Boone Logan.  The Yankees had signed Hideki Okajima to a minor league deal but he failed his physical, voiding the contract.  That leaves Rule 5 Draftee Cesar Cabral, a lefty who has spent most of his career as a starter, Clay Rapada, a lefty specialist recently signed to a minor league deal from the Orioles, and Mike O'Connor to battle it out to accompany Boone Logan north.  We have to assume that whomever loses the fifth starter battle between Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia will end up in the pen.  My money is on Garcia to lose the battle and be the reliever.

There is no guarantee that the spot goes to a left-hander.  The Yankees have viable relievers all over the place. George Kontos, who injured an oblique muscle and will be out for either a few days or weeks dependeing on who you talk to, is an option.  Adam Miller, once considered a top pitching prospect in the Indians organization is an intriguing possibility.  As is former Red Sox Manny Delcarmen.  I don't think the Yankees would mess with their young starters like Warren, Phelps, or Mitchell, for a few months of the regular season, not to mention waste on of their options in the process.  Instead, I think the Yankees will place someone who has minor league options left in that spot, giving the team flexibility moving forward.

Flexibility is going to be key.  Joba Chamberlain and the recently signed David Aardsma, formerly a closer for Seattle, will be back from their Tommy John surgeries at some point in August, give or take a month.  Injuries will happen of course and there is always the chance that Cory Wade implodes or Garcia or Hughes don't perform well.  Bullpens are finicky like that.

Going forward, I would place my money on Adam Miller.  There is talent there and Larry Rothschild should be able to get something out of Miller.  I could be wrong and the Yankees see the second lefty as a necessity in which case Cabral will be given every chance to win the job.  If he can't Clay Rapada has a good enough track record against lefties that he should be able to walk away the winner.  In a year where almost everything is set in stone going forward, the last roster spot in the bullpen will be the only fight worth watching.  The Garcia/Hughes undercard isn't as exciting because whoever doesn't win that spot is bullpen bound.