Who’ll Pick up the Pieces?

Columns — By Tom K on April 11, 2010 11:44 pm

It is rare that a team will go an entire 162 games without a significant injury of some sort; last year, the Yankees lost Alex Rodriguez for the first month & Xavier Nady for just about the entire season.    At one point, the two catchers on the roster were Francisco Cervelli & Kevin Cash.

So, who will be “next in line” if a significant injury were to, god forbid, occur in 2010?  The Yankees do have some options in the minors to fill in some roles.

One area the Yankees seem to have focused on in 2010 is outfield depth in the minor leagues; the signed David Winfree, traded for Greg Golson, and recently claimed Chad Huffman off waivers from the Padres.   Star prospects, these are not – but they add depth and give the Yankees some options if a minor injury were to occur in the big leagues.    All of these hitters are right-handed hitters, so they could even be preparing themselves in case Marcus Thames becomes a bust.    They also have left-handed prospect Colin Curtis playing in Scranton.   Curtis has been in the Yankees organization for many years now (though he is only 25) and could be a #4 or #5 outfielder some day.

The infield is a little less covered.   While nobody would have a problem with Ramiro Pena’s defense if a regular got hurt, they would still be left with a hole on their roster.    Scranton has a few guys who could fill in – the more offensive minded Kevin Russo, who could probably handle second or third, would likely be choice #1 to be called up.    22-year old SS Eduardo Nunez hit well in Trenton in 2009 and has more of a defensive reputation than Russo; though he is also reported to be very inconsistent in the field.      At first base, they have Nick Johnson on the team already…and power-hitting left-hander Juan Miranda in the minors.  Miranda cannot field the position well, however – and you likely want to keep Johnson off the field as much as possible.   Obviously, losing your #3 hitter is never good, so we’ll just hope that Teix stays healthy.  Miranda would be an OK option at DH if Johnson were to have one of his yearly injuries.

Behind the plate, the most obvious replacement is super prospect Jesus Montero, though it is likely the Yankees wouldn’t want him to assume the responsibilities of full-time catching if Posada went down.    The most likely catcher to be brought up if Posada or Cervelli were to go down is recent signee Chad Moeller.

On the mound, the Yankees already can go 6 or 7 deep with Sergio Mitre or Alfredo Aceves able to move into the rotation if needed for any period of time.  It’s unlikely Joba Chamberlain would be shuffled back in.      Jason Hirsch is waiting in the wings in Scranton, while prospects Zach McAllister & Ivan Nova hope to make an impression.  Anything can happen of course, and if CC Sabathia were to be the injured pitcher, they’d be screwed regardless.  But the Yankees appear to be well-covered if someone needs to miss a start or two or three.    I think the Yankees learned from the Sidney Ponson experience a few years ago that it is a good thing to load up with pitching depth.  None of these guys would likely be spectacular in a 2010 starting role, but most would likely hold their own.

As for the bullpen, the Yankees have developed quite the pipeline of potential pitchers to fill roles.  McAllister & Nova would both be candidates, as would Mark Melancon & Boone Logan.    Jonathan Albaladejo had a terrible spring but always finds his way to the Bronx for a few games here and there, and hard-throwing Romulo Sanchez is also in the mix.    This is one area where the Yankees shouldn’t have any worries at all if an injury were to occur or if a guy like Mitre or Park turns into a pumpkin.

So, at the end of the day, hope that the infield stays healthy as there isn’t much to get excited about in the upper areas of the minors.  The outfield has a little more wiggle room (and it seems that there are always corner outfielders on the trade market regardless), and Curtis Granderson is covered by Brett Gardner if something were to happen.     Posada remains an integral part of the team, so hopefully if he does have  a nagging injury during the season, it will only keep him down for a few weeks like in 2009.   The only truly irreplaceable pitcher is Sabathia, but you still don’t want to be playing Russian Roulette with injuries to Burnett, Vazquez, or Pettitte.

So there is your depth report for 2010 – overall, the Yankees are in pretty good shape for a team of their stature.  I say that because you aren’t going to find many good backups who want to come to a team that is fully loaded like the Yankees, as it is tough to get much playing time here.  Just ask Randy Winn & Ramiro Pena, who have barely touched the diamond at this point in time.