Going to battle with a slingshot…
pre-season Yankees-Red Sox battle resumes on Monday as the New Yorkers travel
to Fort Myers to play Boston. The Red Sox won the first exhibition
meeting between the teams, and the odds are stacked against the Yanks as most
of the regulars stayed in Tampa.
Per the LoHud Yankees
Blog, the following players will not be making the trip to Fort Myers: Francisco
Cervelli, Russell Martin, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Eric Chavez, Derek
Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Colin Curtis, Greg Golson and Andruw
Jones.
Unfortunately for the
Yankees, both Boston newcomers Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford will be in the
Red Sox lineup. The pitching match-up
will feature former Yankees starter/reliever Alfredo Aceves versus Sergio
Mitre.
The regular Yankees
outfielders (Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Swisher) will be making
the trip, and will hopefully give the Yankees the offense they need to defeat
the Sox.
I realize that it is
only a meaningless exhibition game, however, I have placed another wager with
Julia of Julia’s Rants. Sorry, it’s just
too hard to let any Yankees-Red Sox game go by without a chance to fire a shot
at my friend from Boston! I guess she
and I are just starting to stretch ourselves out in anticipation of Opening
Day. For this game, the loser has to
sport the logo of the opposing team on their blog for one day (Tuesday, March
15, 2011). To take it a step further,
the loser also has to sport the Yankees or Red Sox logo for their FaceBook
profile photo for the same 24 hour period.
I don’t want to read
too much into Freddy Garcia‘s pathetic performance today. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and a
hit batter in 2 2/3 innings. I accept
that Garcia is historically a slow starter in spring training and do not feel
that today’s clunker should define whether or not he loses his grip on the 5th
spot in the starting rotation. I would
still prefer Ivan Nova and Garcia as the 4th and 5th
starters over any scenario that would allow either Mitre or Bartolo Colon into
the rotation.
I had hoped for a better
fate for Rule 5 draftee pitcher Daniel Turpen, but he never really had a chance
when the Yankees bolstered their bullpen (most notably the signing of former
Rays closer Rafael Soriano). Turpen was
returned to the Red Sox today. I do wish
him the very best, and I hope that he finds his way to the major leagues sooner
rather than later.
I feel bad for first
baseman Jorge Vazquez. He has done
everything to prove that he is ready for the major leagues now, but the Yankees
really need to go with former Oakland A’s third baseman Eric Chavez as their
backup corner infielder. I wish there
was a spot for Vazquez but there just doesn’t appear to be one (barring any
injuries, of course). I am sure that he’ll
see the pinstripes at some point this season.
I am definitely
looking forward to hearing some good old Frank Sinatra soon…
–Scott
I'm Not A Headline Guy... 