Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

• Will Hiroki Kuroda succeed in 2014?
• Spring Training Game Twenty: Yankees at Pirates Cancelled Due To Rain
• Requiem for the greatest years of the AL East
• Examining the Yankees' backup options at second base

Yankees News

The Wall Street Journal | Daniel Barbarisi: In Panama, Mariano Rivera is both a celebrity and a local kid all in one.

It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: The Yankees made the right decision cutting Manny Banuelos from spring training.

ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand: The Yankees' manager of professional scouting left the organization to pursue an opportunity with Major League Soccer.

New York Post | George A. King III: The Yankees are impressed by Vidal Nuno, even though he doesn't throw very hard.

It's About the Money | Michael Eder: A side-by-side comparison between Michael Pineda in 2011 and 2014.

CBS Sports | Jon Heyman:Ichiro Suzuki and Francisco Cervelli are two players that could be moved.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Projecting the 25-man roster come opening day.

The Greedy Pinstripes | Daniel Burch: Conceiving a workable six-man rotation with both Michael Pineda and Vidal Nuno.

Ray updates his Top 100 Starting Pitcher rankings to get you ready for your fantasy drafts in the coming weeks.

Now that we have completed our consensus position rankings for 2014, it is time to address rankings for those of you in AL only and NL only leagues. I will publish league specific position rankings each day, addressing one position at a time, starting with the NL only position rankings.

In case you missed them, below you will find links to all of our consensus position rankings and projections that we have published to date:

Catcher: Part 1| Part 2

First Base: Part 1| Part 2

Second Base: Part 1| Part 2

Shortstop: Part 1| Part 2

Third Base:Part 1| Part 2

Outfielders:Part 1| Part 2| Part 3

Starting Pitcher: Part 1| Part 2| Part 3

Top 30 Closers for 2014

2014 Closers in Waiting

Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2014

Couple Thoughts

Don't let his rough spring training fool you on draft day, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is still the best pitcher in the game. If your league owners get antsy over spring training stats, by ail means mention his bad spring before and during your auction or snake drafts and reap the rewards.

I mentioned in this piece a few weeks ago that Marlins starter Jose Fernandez could be the #1 starter in the game this season, but a lot will have to go right for that to happen. Then again, he is the best young starter in the game behind Kershaw. Yes, Kershaw is only 25 years old.

Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is two years removed from his Tommy John surgery, and he was back to being the dominant Wainwright last season. Expect more of the same this season. You can say the same about Phillies ace Cliff Lee, as he is one of the more reliable pitchers in the game.

I moved Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka up a bit in my rankings, as he has pitched very well in spring training thus far and I can see him striking out a lot of batters this season. Actually, I think he will outperform Yu Darvish's 2012 season, his first in MLB.

I like a couple young starters, Homer Bailey and Alex Cobb, and liked them so much I traded for them this offseason. I traded Manny Machado for Cobb in an AL only keeper league, and traded Anthony Rendon for Bailey in an NL only keeper league. I think both can make the next step into ace conversation this season.

If you are looking for a late round starter who could break out this season, I would target Angels starter Tyler Skaggs and Marlins starter Nathan Eovaldi. I read on Monday that Eovaldi has hit 101 mph on his fastball this spring, and is working to mix in his off speed and slider more often this season, so we could see a bump in strikeouts this season.

Top 100 Starting Pitcher Rankings for 2014

Fantasy Rundown

If you are looking for more fantasy baseball or football rankings, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown, your one place on the internet for fantasy rankings, news and information. They provide links to all of the top fantasy site on the 'net.

Long is most known for homering in eight consecutive games for the Pirates in 1956.

Dale Long is known mostly for two things in the game of baseball.

He homered in eight consecutive games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 - a record that stood until Don Mattingly tied it in 1987 and Ken Griffey Jr. followed suit in 1993; and he played two games behind the dish as a left-handed throwing catcher - a rarity in the big leagues (here's a list of the 28 players who have done so).

But there's more to the story for the 1953 Pacific Coast League MVP who led the league in home runs (35) and RBIs (116) that season while playing for the league champion Hollywood Stars.

The 6-4, 210-pound left-handed hitter had three successive twenty home run seasons from 1956-'58. He was a 1956 NL All-Star while playing for the Pirates, clubbing 27 home runs for the Bucs that season. The year before that, he tied Willie Mays for the league lead in triples with 13.

Long, who mostly played first base, played more than 1,000 career major league games with the Pirates, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Washington Senators between 1951-'63, hitting .267./341/464 with 132 home runs and 467 runs batted in. He also logged more than 1,000 games in the minor leagues.

According to this blog, Long's grandson says Casey Stengel, who was the manager of the Yankees in 1960 when Long played for them, told Long he had three jobs with the Yankees - substitute at first base, be used an a pinch-hitter and accompany Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford when they went out at night to keep them out of trouble.

In another blog post, Bob Kholos (who passed away in 2010) recalled his days frequenting Gilmore Field to watch his beloved Hollywood Stars: "Dale Long, Lee Walls, Bill Mazeroski, R.C. Stevens, were my hero's [sic], and I could watch them close-up. Dale Long later broke Lou Gehrig's record of consecutive game home runs for the Pirates ..."

After Long's playing career, he went on to become a minor league umpire for five seasons as well as a field representative for the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (the governing body of MiLB).

Long died in 1991 at the age of 64 after a long bout with cancer.

Did you grow up watching Long play? If so, I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

In 2013 the Yankees were tied for 3rd in the Al East, with a 85-77 record, 11 games better than the Blue Jays. But their Pythagorean record was 79-83, just 2 games better than the Jays. Course, that the Yankees were 14-5 against us explains a lot of why they were 11 games ahead of us. They scored 4.01 runs per game, slightly worse than our 4.40 runs per game. The allowed 4.14 runs per game, half a run better than our 4.67.

They had a far more interesting offseason than we had, adding players Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson. Losing Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez (well, for a year anyway).

Catcher: Brian McCann

McCann had 20 home runs last year, with the Braves, in 102, playing in a home park that's much less homer friendly than Yankees Stadium. Last year's catcher duo, Chris Stewart and Austin Romine had a combined 5 home runs and a combined 0.3 WAR. If he can stay healthy, McCann will be a big improvement.

Infield

Two or three years ago the Yankees had the best infield in baseball, now Robinson Cano is with the Mariners, Alex Rodriguez is suspended and Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira are old and are on the DL more than they are in the lineup.

First Base: Mark Teixeira

Teixeira played just 15 games and hit .151/.270/.340. It's anyone's guess how much he'll play this year, but I think it is safe to assume it will be less than 162 games. He's not having the best of springs, just hitting .143/.333/.214 but then it's just been 14 at bats. Last year Lyle Overbay played 130 games at first, and hit .240/.295/.393. If Teixeira is healthy, he'd almost have to hit better than that.

Second Base: Brian Roberts/Brendan Ryan

This offseason the Yankees let Robinson Cano walk away and then signed Brian Roberts. Roberts was a very good player, but, over the last 4 years he has played a total of 192 games. Last year, he played 77 game, the most he's played since 2009. He hit .249/.312/.392, not numbers that will make people forget Cano.

When Roberts is hurt Ryan will be the likely replacement Ryan is a Goins like player, great glove, no bat. He hit .197/.255/.273 last year.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter/Brendan Ryan

Jeter is on his farewell tour, going from city to city collecting presents from each team. At 40, the Yankees hope he plays more than the 17 games he played at age 39. Defensively, you won't be seeing a lot of range, but he'll likely bat better than the average SS. When he needs days off, Ryan will likely be the one to take his place.

Third Base: Kelly Johnson/Eduardo Nunez

It looks like the Yankees play to go with a platoon of Johnson and Nunez at third base. Jays fans have far less than fond memories of Kelly Johnson. Last year Johnson played for the Rays and hit .235/.305/410 in 118 games. Nunez played 90 games for the Yankees, hitting .260/.307/.372.

Outfield:

Left field: Brett Gardner

Gardner doesn't have the power you'd like from a LFer, but he'll play great defense and not hurt the Yankees with the bat. Last year he hit .273/.344/.416 with 24 stolen bases.

Center field: Jacoby Ellsbury

The Yankees are going to be paying Ellsbury $21 million and change for end of the next 7 or 8 years. He's not been the most consistent of hitters, putting up OPS+ numbers of 131, 88, 98, 30, 146, 84 and 114. He does consistently play great defense.

Right Field: Carlos Beltran

Beltran has been a terrific player for that past 16 seasons, but the Yankees are paying him $45 million for his age 37, 38 and 39 seasons. He hit .296/.339/.491 with 24 home runs last year and I'd expect playing half his games in Yankees Stadium will help his numbers. UZR didn't like defense, crediting him with a -18.7 UZR/150 last year.

Ichiro Suzuki will, mostly like be fourth outfielder.

DH: Alfonso Soriano

Soriano had a pretty terrific 2013, hitting .255/.302/.489 with 34 home runs, in 151 games split between the Cubs and Yankees. Alfonso is 38 this year, but he's been very consistent, offensively, over the last 6 years, putting up OPS+ values ranging from 102 to 129. With the rather advanced age of many of his teammates, Alfonso will be playing a fair amount of outfield, to open up DH for the other geriatrics.

Starting Pitching:

CC Sabathia: CC had a bit of an off-year in 2013, putting up a 4.78 ERA over 32 games, so he spent the offseason getting into, what for him passes as, shape. He's having a very good spring, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks with 9 strikeouts, in 12 innings with a 2.70.

Masahiro Tanaka: I don't even what to talk about him. He's allowed 7 hits, 2 walks, 10 k, in 9.1 spring innings.

Hiroki Kuroda: Kuroda was very good, in 2013, with a 3.31 ERA, in 32 starts. He is 39 this year. His spring isn't going as well, 12 hits, 6 earned, 1 walk and 8 k in 8.1 innings.

Ivan Nova: Ivan had a very nice 3.10 ERA, in 20 starts last year. I wouldn't mind a 4th starter that could do that.

Michael Pineda: The Yankees traded for Pineda in January of 2012 and he hasn't pitched an regular season inning for them yet. This might be his year. He's pitched just 4.1 innings this spring, with 4 hits, 1 walk and 9 strikeouts.

Bullpen:

David Robertson gets Mariano Rivera's seat in the bullpen. He might not be Mariano, but he's pretty decent. He had a 2.04 ERA last year. I think the bigger problem is that, without Robertson, they don't have great setup men. Shawn Kelley (4.39 ERA last year), Preston Claiborne (4.11), Oscar Cabral (rookie) and Delyn Betances (rookie) will join him in the pen.

Outlook:

I really have a hard time seeing how they could contend. They could have a very good starting rotation, if CC is back to the pitcher he was before last year, Tanaka has the same sort of numbers he had in Japan and Kuroda and Nova do as well as they did last year. Beyond that, they are hoping for comeback seasons from a lot of old guys. Unless they've found the fountain of youth, I think they will be closer to the bottom of the division than the top.

Who has looked really bad this spring

How the players expected to make the major league team perform in spring training isn't always that important. Sure, you want to see guys do well, but most of the time they don't get enough playing time for us to really get a sense of how well they are performing. All that matters is that they're healthy and ready to go for the regular season. The ones that receive most of the playing time are either trying to make the team or at least attempting to make an impression. Those are the ones you want to see perform well. It's too bad that a few of those players have kind of been disappointments in Yankees camp.

John Ryan Murphy: He was never going to make the team with Francisco Cervelli the favorite for the major league backup job, but he could still be their most useful trade chip. A strong spring could have gotten the Yankees an infielder, but Murphy didn't exactly do much with all the playing time he was given. Now I doubt anyone is pounding at Brian Cashman's door.

Mason Williams: Expected to start out in High-A Tampa, Williams has gotten more playing time than almost every other Yankee in camp, appearing in 15 games this spring. If he's being showcased for a potential trade, he's done nothing to help out the Yankees. There's a lot of uncertainty about his future prospect status, so a good spring would have been helpful to show that he's not completely useless.

Chase Whitley: Whitley was probably the one reliever who really needed to have a good spring if he wanted to take a roster spot. Unfortunately, he completely wasted his chance as he struggled more than any other pitching prospect in camp. He'll end up back in Triple-A and who knows when he'll have another chance to show himself off as a major league option.

Corban Joseph: With all the questions about Brian Roberts and who could fill in for him if he goes down, Corban Joseph was a quietly valuable asset for the Yankees to have in their back pocket. Scott Sizemore, Yangervis Solarte, and Zelous Wheeler might all be above him on the depth chart, but a strong spring could have changed all that. Unfortunately, he's done nothing to prove that he's a better option than any of them, so he'll have to show the Yankees something more once the season starts.

Manny Banuelos: We shouldn't have expected much from ManBan, coming off of Tommy John surgery, but it sure would have been nice to see a small flash of what he can do even after missing almost two years. It will take some time for him to get back to normal, but seeing him trounced this spring didn't make it look like he'll be much of an option for the Yankees any time soon.

Peter O`Brien: Yes, O`Brien is still at least several years away from helping the team, but given the questions surrounding his defense, it would have been nice to see that he could hit against major league-caliber pitchers. The media keeps talking about his power potential, but he hasn't gotten a single hit so far this spring.

Preston Claiborne: Going into spring training, Joe Girardi claimed that Claiborne was already one of the few relievers who definitely had a job. Now with Dellin Betances, Jim Miller, Matt Daley, among others, all having much better springs, it's possible that Claiborne could at least start the 2014 season in the minors, unseated by a miserable string of performances starting in the second half of 2013. He might not be much of a major league option after all.

We often think of pitchers who have good control and limit walks as ones who throw tons of pitches inside the zone. But, as the contrast between Cliff Lee and Hiroki Kuroda shows, that isn't always the case.

Throwing strikes and limiting walks are two essential objectives for any pitcher. Indeed, the old adage "walks will kill you" has been a favorite of pitching coaches from little league up to the majors for years, signifying how vital a pitcher’s control is to his overall success. To get hitters out, conventional wisdom preaches, you have to throw the ball in the strike zone.

Both Cliff Lee and Hiroki Kuroda are known for their impeccable control and ability to avoid the free pass. Lee might just have the best control of any major league hurler; he owns a career 1.96 BB/9 rate and, as he did last September when he walked just one batter in 39 innings, goes through frequent stretches in which he hardly ever surrenders a walk.

Kuroda is no slouch in this department either. The right-hander has reduced his walk rate in each of the past three seasons, posting an impressive 5.2% BB% in 2013, which more than made up for his pedestrian strikeout numbers. Among all major league starters, Kuroda and Lee are two of the best at limiting walks, with Lee ranking first overall in BB% (3.7%) and Kuroda coming in at 14th last season.

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Yet the two pitchers go about their craft in vastly different ways, calling into question the customary belief that throwing pitches in the strike zone and preventing walks go hand in hand. Lee posted the second-highest Zone% (which measures the overall percentage of pitches a pitcher throws in the strike zone) of any big league pitcher in 2013 at 56.9%. Kuroda, on the other hand, was tied for the third-lowest Zone% in MLB at 44.1%.

How could two pitchers, both of whom rarely give up walks, have such a different approach to throwing strikes? More importantly, perhaps, how does Kuroda throw so few pitches in the strike zone, but still avoid the free pass?

In many ways, Kuroda isn’t your typical pitcher, even if he has been one of baseball’s most consistent starters over the last few years. His pitches always have movement and often dart and dip below the strike zone, as the 39-year-old’s zone chart shows:

Kuroda lives just outside the strike zone, with his slider and splittergetting frequent whiffs as they move down and away from the plate. The Japan native’s most-used pitch, his sinker, also has tons of movement, leading to swings and weak contact on pitches off the plate.

And, ultimately, this is how Kuroda has been so successful. He generates swings (and often misses) on pitches outside the zone, as his 34.9% O-Swing% indicates.

Kuroda isn’t alone in this—among the pitchers with the lowest Zone% in 2013, many had high walk totals, but a few (like Zack Greinke and Felix Hernandez) also garnered swings and misses on pitches outside the zone.

When compared to Kuroda, Lee’s zone chart demonstrates how often he lives inside the zone:

Lee is a unique pitcher. He doesn’t do anything spectacularly well, but he garners whiffs, produces ground balls, and strands runners at an above-average rate. Most importantly, he is remarkably durable, having thrown at least 210 innings for six straight seasons.

He uses a four-pitch mix, relying heavily on his sinker and cutter in 2013, and is able to place his pitches on the outside edges of the zone. Again, nothing particularly stands out about his pitches, though all are above average and do a decent job of creating weak contact. Lee’s success, then, comes from getting himself into favorable counts and forcing hitters to swing at pitches that are too close to take, while also picking up just enough strikeouts to get by.

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There is nothing flashy about Lee (which is why he can be so underappreciated), yet the left-hander has found a formula that brings consistent results. He finds success through rarely falling behind in the count and executing his pitches to near-perfection, an approach that any pitching coach would try to instill in their pupils. That Lee can still excel while throwing so many pitches in the zone is a testament to how sharp his control and steady his execution truly is.

Ultimately, the contrast between Lee and Kuroda teaches us how nuanced pitching and a pitcher’s success on the mound can be. In other words, our conception of a pitcher with good control as someone who throws a lot of strikes isn’t entirely accurate. Limiting walks isn’t so simple as throwing pitches in the strike zone, especially when big league hitters will punish any pitch that catches too much of the plate. Unless you are someone like Lee, who can spot his pitches at an elite level, you need to generate strikes outside the zone in a consistent manner.

Kuroda has done that increasingly well during his time in the majors, which has enabled him to remain successful even as his strikeout rate has decreased. The right-handed hurler throws more pitches outside the strike zone than in, but that hasn’t stopped him from avoiding walks in the process.

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All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs and Brooks Baseball unless otherwise noted.

Alex Skillin is a writer and editor at Beyond the Box Score and also contributes to SB Nation MLB. He writes, mostly about baseball and basketball, at a few other places across the Internet. You can follow him on Twitter at @AlexSkillin.

The Yankees have already made a few cuts over the last two weeks, optioning several prospects down to the minors. First they sent Nik Turley, Jose Ramirez, Francisco Rondon, Slade Heathcott, and Gary Sanchez packing. Aside from Sanchez, none of them were getting any playing time due to injuries and were also unlikely to make the team. Then Bryan Mitchell and Manny Banuelos were cut. Now Joe Girardi has made his first big round of cuts this spring with only two weeks to go until Opening Day.

They sent Bruce Billings, Robert Coello, and Brian Gordon off. None of them were going to make the team and Coello was probably the absolute worst pitcher in camp. If you ask me, Coello got way too long of a look anyway. They also cut prospects Chase Whitley and Mark Montgomery, who will be reassigned to minor league camp and start the year in Triple-A. Word is that Whitley will continue to be stretched out as a starter this season, so he might not be much of an option until we see the results of this experiment. I'm kind of surprised Montgomery was cut so early. I figured he would get a good long look this spring now that he's healthy and looked to be pretty effective. Obviously, not being on the 40-man roster killed his chances, but perhaps they can DFA Preston Claiborne at some point.

As for position players, useful players like Jose Pirela, Ramon Flores, and Corban Joseph are gone. Pirela had a quietly nice spring, but is unlikely to ever really become an option for the Yankees. Ramon Flores was also impressive, but a crowded outfield was not doing him any favors. On the other hand, CoJo was pretty bad and any slim chance he had was wasted. Peter O`Brien never even got a hit, though he was given a longer look than I ever expected he would. Maybe they were trying to see how his bat held up in camp, since his future behind the plate is in question. Francisco Arcia, who is likely just organizational fodder at this point, had a nice spring, but it wasn't going to change anything.

That leaves 14 pitchers in camp who are looking to fill one rotation spot and four bullpen spots. Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral, Preston Claiborne, and Vidal Nuno might have the edge over the other relievers, since they are on the 40-man roster. Zelous Wheeler, Yangervis Solarte, Scott Sizemore, and Russ Canzler all remain in contention for the final infield spot. It's odd that Tyler Austin is still officially in camp when he hasn't appeared in a game as he deals with a wrist injury. I doubt he makes it through the next round.

UPDATE:

Turns out Tyler Austin has indeed been cut. Mason Williams has been cut as well. He was given more of a look than I ever expected him to get. Unfortunately, he didn't take advantage of the opportunity and wasn't very good.

The Yankees take on the Red Sox for the first time this spring as Michael Pineda faces Felix Doubront. This might not be Boston's A lineup, but I still want to see Pineda mow them all down. Joe Girardi made a round of cuts today that includes Chase Whitley, Mark Montgomery, Robert Coello, Brian Gordon, Bruce Billings, Jose Pirela, Ramon Flores, Corban Joseph, Peter O`Brien, and Francisco Arcia. They could still be listed on today's roster as far as we know. Jacoby Ellsbury will not be playing against his old team as the Yankees want him to rest his sore calf.

Today's bench includes Austin Romine (C), Jose Gil (1B), Eduardo Nunez (2B), Dean Anna (SS), Zelous Wheeler (3B), Yangervis Solarte (LF), Adonis Garcia (CF), Zoilo Almonte (RF), and John Ryan Murphy and Antoan Richardson as replacement designated hitters. The bullpen includes David Robertson, Fred Lewis, Shawn Kelley, Matt Daley, David Herndon, Jim Miller, Yoshinori Tateyama, Chris Leroux, Danny Burawa

Pineda was pretty good too

Everything went right for the Yankees today. The pitching was great and the hitting was even better. They looked like the team they hadn't been for all of 2013. They downed Boston on 14 hits and three walks while striking out a total of eight Red Sox batters.

Michael Pineda was terrific again. He threw 60 pitches in 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, but also striking out five Red Sox batters. Even better was that the Ks came against actual MLB players like Xander Bogaerts, Mike Carp, David Ross, and Jonny Gomes (twice). His velocity was fantastic, hitting as high as 94 mph while his slider was as effective as we all hoped it would be. If he stays healthy, Pineda likely already has a rotation spot locked down.

David Robertson relieved Pineda, giving up a hit and striking out two. Shawn Kelley pitched a perfect inning in relief, while David Herndon collected a strikeout, but also surrendered the only Red Sox run on two hits in the seventh. Fred Lewis and Matt Daley pitched the last two innings, allowing one hit apiece, though they were likely helped out by Zoilo Almonte, who made several impressive diving catches.

The Yankee offense exploded today, beating up Felix Doubront, scoring seven runs on 14 hits and three walks in 32 innings. In the first, Brett Gardner singled, Mark Teixeira walked and Alfonso Soriano singled to bring in the first run. In the second, Brian Roberts singled then stole a base, Kelly Johnson walked and Ichiro Suzuki singled to score another run. After that, Gardner put down a beautiful drag bunt, Derek Jeter hit an infield single, and Mark Texeira singled to make it a 5–0 game.

In the third inning, the game was interrupted by bees.

Yes, A GIANT SWARM OF BEES interrupted the baseball game as they planned to kill everyone in attendance. Tex thought he came up with a clever way to save everyone. Because, of course.

Thankfully, the grounds crew aren't idiots and were able to fight them off and allow the game to continue.

(H/T Marc Normandin @ SB Nation)

In the fourth inning, Gardner singled again, but he was quickly erased on a Jeter double play. The offense wouldn't let up, though, because Carlos Beltran doubled and Tex walked for a second time. Alfonso Soriano then hit a three-run home run to make up for his near-homer in his last at-bat. He made the score 8–0 and there it would stay for a few innings.

Everyone in the original lineup got on base. Standouts included Gardner with three hits, Tex with a hit and two walks, Soriano with four RBI, and Brian Roberts, who collected two hits and a stole a base. Francisco Cervelli had a triple and a single as he continued his hot spring, and Zelous Wheeler hot in on the action with a double.

While the offense came to a somewhat abrupt end once Doubront left the game, it was still enough to get the job done. Compared to what they did last year, I'll take it.

FanGraphs projects Gary Sanchez as the only current Yankee prospect who will become an above-average major league baseball player.

Another day, another set of prospect rankings.  FanGraphs writer Tony Blengino took a slightly different approach to the prospect ranking game, ranking systems based on how many "impact" prospects they would have.  Impact prospects are ones that he sees as "likely above average major league regulars."

Not shockingly, the Yankees are in the lower half of this list.  The Yankees came in 20^th in FanGraphs' rankings, although only one of their prospects is listed as an impact player: Gary Sanchez.  That means that Blengino only sees Sanchez, as of now, being an above-average major league starter--not the most uplifting news.  He had Tyler Austin listed as a impact prospect going into 2013, but after a disappointing season, he now only projects Austin as an average/below-average MLB starter.

But everything isn't completely negative - Blengino does like the Yankees' catching depth, as he obviously is a fan of Sanchez (like everyone) and thinks John Ryan Murphy and Peter O'Brien are also decent prospects.  He thinks O'Brien might have to switch positions, at some point, but he really likes his power at the plate.  However, he thinks the Yankees' pitching prospects are extremely woeful, writing "there may not be a single future MLB regular starting pitcher in the system at present."  Ouch.  He's also not holding out a whole lot of hope for Mason Williams to be much of a major league contributor except as probably a defensively minded fourth outfielder, as he "hasn't hit a lick since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2012."

Blengino admits he would've ranked the Yankees much lower except for a lot of potentially viable major leaguers in the lower echelons of the farm system; he's especially intrigued by Thairo Estrada, Miguel Andujar, and Gosuke Katoh, and he's looking for them to take some steps forward this season.  He also expects the Yankees to spend big internationally to fill out their farm system, and this could help their farm system move into the top half of the league next year.

Overall, it's just more confirmation that Gary Sanchez is seen as one of the only players close to arriving who could be an above-average player in the majors.  While the system may be thin at the top, with some promising new faces in the lower levels of the system - plus others he didn't mention, like PSA favorite Greg Bird - the Yankees system should start improving in the next couple years.  So there's at least some reason for optimism.

Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

• Yankees system ranked 20th in terms of impact prospects by FanGraphs
• Yankees 8, Red Sox 1: Victory over bees
• Spring Training Game Twenty One: Yankees vs. Red Sox
• Yankees cut 10 players from spring training
• Sizing up the Yankees' American League competition: AL Central
• The most disappointing Yankees in spring training

Yankees News

It's About the Money | Williams Tasker: Breaking down the Yankees' AL East competitor, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pinstripe Pundits | Chris Mitchell: Comparing the defensive abilities of Yankees right fielders Carlos Beltran, Ichiro Suzuki, and Nick Swisher.

USA Today | Bob Nightengale: MLB agent Casey Close negotiated $700 million in contracts this offseason, so Derek Jeter could use a loan.

New York Daily News | Anthony McCarron: The Yankees hope to mold Kelly Johnson into their starting third baseman.

It's About the Money | William Tasker: Breaking down the Yankees' AL East competitor, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yahoo! Sports | Jeff Passan: Baseball's biggest problem isn't money or steroids, it's injuries.

CBS Sports | Dayn Perry: Check out this New York Yankees snuggie.

It's About the Money | Michael Eder: The Yankees could still end up with Stephen Drew in the end.

ESPN New York | Wallace Matthews: Joe Girardi refuses to name Michael Pineda the fifth starter, even though he's been great.

The Times-Tribune | Donnie Collins: A look at who among the latest round of cuts will end up playing for the RailRiders.

Checking in on Jacoby Ellsbury, Scott Sizemore, Brendan Ryan and Tyler Austin.

Jacoby Ellsbury has been dealing with right calf tightness, causing him to sit out for the past several days. As of Tuesday, he still felt it "a little bit" while going through his workout. He won't be traveling with the team on Wednesday, and probably won't play Thursday against the Red Sox. Joe Girardi said Ellsbury won't be back in a game until a day or two after he doesn't feel any tightness at all.

Scott Sizemore was shut down a couple of days ago with tightness in his right quad. He said that his knees are feeling fine, and that the quad isn't an issue. He took batting practice on Tuesday, and he's expected to return to games in the next few days.

Brendan Ryan hasn't played since March 7th, when he started to experience a lower back/oblique issue. He took batting practice Monday, and went through a full workout on Tuesday. The plan is for him to return to games Thursday night when the Yankees travel to the Red Sox.

Tyler Austin was able to take batting practice outside on Monday, for the first time during spring training. He has reported that his wrist is progressing, and he might make it into a game in the next couple of days.

The 2014 season is almost here! As we continue to sit through Spring Training games, Camden Chat will spend the rest of this week previewing the O's foes in the AL East. Second up: The New York Yankees

2013 was not a banner year for the Yankees. Before the season, in effort to avoid luxury taxes, the front office imposed a plan to get the team payroll below $189 million dollars and let go of Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Eric Chavez and Rafael Soriano. The team also signed Kevin Youkilis and traded FOR Vernon Wells to mend holes in the lineup. As if the lineup weren’t without holes already, Derek Jeter suffered a series of setbacks with the ankle injury he sustained in 2012 playoffs and missed the most of season, A-Rod played only 44 games and was not his old self (0.5 fWAR), Ichiro showed age with his bat (71 wRC+), Curtis Granderson broke his hand… twice, and etc. All the misfortunes and agings gave Yankees one of the most underwhelming offensive showings in recent history with 10.4 combined fWAR’s from positional players, which was 24th in the ML. Not what you want to see when you invest a top three payroll on a team, eh?

The pitching was solid. Their 18.5 team pitching fWAR was 5th in the MLB last year. Kuroda showed an All-Star caliber performance before fading out for the final month of the season, Nova seemed like he figured things out in ML, Pettitte had a solid final season, etc. But the staff ace Sabathia had his worst season and Phil Hughes, who the Yanks were counting to repeat the solid first-half 2010 season, had a below-average showing and was let go by the Yanks in the past offseason.

When it was all said and done, the Yankees ended up with 85-77, tying with the Orioles in the AL East and failing to reach playoffs. However, the team also ended up with -21 run differential, which is 15th-worst in franchise history, which indicates that the Yankees played worse than the +.500 record they ended up with.

The Yankees vowed not to repeat the subpar 2013 showing and unleashed their financial prowess this offseason. They boosted the offense by giving out big contracts to C Brian McCann, OF Jacoby Ellsbury and OF Carlos Beltran. Also, they handed out a massive 7-year, $155 million contract to 25-year old Masahiro Tanaka (with an opt-out after 4th year). All the signings add up to +$460 million worth of commitment, which is a lot of money. The [lan to keep the payroll under $189 million is good as dead and shows that the team would rather pay the luxury tax than to see attendance and TV rating falter from under-performance.

The offseason wasn’t without losses either. The obvious one is Robinson Cano signing a whopping 10-year contract with the Mariners. The Yankees, who were not willing to go past 7-8 years in retaining their star infielder, let go of Cano (whose last four seasons recorded 6.4, 5.3, 7.7 and 6.0 fWARs). 3B Alex Rodriguez was also suspended for the entire season, leaving a hole in hot corner as well. While the team signed cheap replacements (Kelly Johnson at 3B and Brian Roberts at 2B), it is highly improbable that they’ll be able to find replacements in same level of production. The team also lost Andy Pettitte (3.2 fWAR) and, of course, Mariano Rivera to retirement.

Injuries were a big part of the faltering Yankees last year and while there have not been a major injury alert yet, it is something to be wary of. First off, as we know, Brian Roberts hasn’t been able to stay off the disabled list. Fans and promoters better hope that Derek Jeter stays healthy this season. The 39-turning-40 shortstop is coming off an injury-marred season and because of the age, the Yankees will put him in a bubble wrap (aka they will put him as a DH once in awhile and put defensive replacements quite often). Francisco Cervelli has a history of unlucky injuries and based on his small-sample power surge in 2013, Yanks hope that it doesn’t bite him this season. And of course, there’s Mark Teixeira who only played in 15 games last year due to wrist injuries. Jacoby Ellsbury also has a history of injuries (though most of them seemed to be flukey) and because he relies on his speed a lot, he needs to keep his legs in check. Even though both were healthy last year, McCann and Beltran both have injury histories and especially for Beltran, he is also aging. The Yankees are not a young team and the old players of 2013 are even older this year. If the Yankees surmount to too many injury bugs again, it’ll be hard to survive in a tough AL East competition.

What are the Yankees strengths going into 2014? Their outfield bats upgraded from Wells - Gardner - Ichiro on the 2013 Opening Day to Gardner - Ellsbury - Beltran (with Soriano fitting in at corner spot). The speed combo of Gardner and Ellsbury will save a lot of runs and the hitting has gotten much better. Adding McCann also helps - he should enjoy the short porch in right field with the pull-happy swing approach. Jeter (if he replicates something similar to his 2012 production) and Teixeira should be upgrades to their 2013 replacements in terms of offense, so that’s another bright spot. A lineup with forces like Gardner/Ellsbury/Beltran/McCann/Soriano/Teixeira in the top 7 spot (with Jeter probably hitting second) will produce more runs than last year’s Yankees and can be quite potent. The rotation is full of question marks (as I’ve written here) but it has upsides.

Downside? As recently as 2012, Yankees boasted A-Rod - Jeter - Cano - Teixeira infield. Now, it figures to be Kelly Johnson - Jeter - Roberts - Teixeira. The loss of Cano will sting because of his star-level production. And even if A-Rod did not shine in his brief 2013 return, he put up a 113 wRC+ - the Yankees would love that kind of offensive performance fit somewhere in the lineup. Kelly Johnson hasn’t crossed more than 110 wRC+ since 2010. Also consider that Johnson had never played 3B as a primary position and Jeter accumulated -13 defense rating in last two seasons as a starter - the left side of the infield has a potential to be very detrimental to pitchers.

The bullpen also poses some problem. After Mariano’s retirement, the Yankees also lost Boone Logan to the Rockies. The only four relievers that are guaranteed a spot are David Robertson (the likely closer), Shawn Kelley, Matt Thornton and Preston Claiborne. While Robertson has been one of the best relievers in the league in last few years, Kelley isn’t exactly a name that reminds you of a shutdown set-up man (low strand rate of 71.4% hurt him last year. If it goes back to the career average of 77.5%, his 2013 would've looked much better) and Thornton has been on a downhill of his career (his K-rate since 2010 here on the green bar). They are expected to choose names like David Phelps, Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral and Vidal Nuno to include to bullpen and besides Phelps, they don't have much ML experience. Many expected the Yankees to add one or more pieces to bolster the bullpen but the team didn’t. We will see how that works out but it does not inspire too much confidence for now.

Fangraphs project the Yankees to go 83-79, which is two wins lower than their 2013 record. It is based on their expectations on how much runs the Yankees will score (4.36 per game) and allow (4.25 per game), which aren’t too different from each other and calculates to + 17 run difference, which leads to higher than .500 team record but probably not a playoff-worthy team. The team is in win-now mode and the odds are that they could try to mend the lacking hole with a trade or two. But with some glaring weaknesses (infield, bullpen, etc.), the team will need key veterans to step up a notch to compete for division title. My prediction? I think they could do better than a 85-77 record but not by much. The team could make some impact in division title and wild card race, but actually getting a spot in the playoffs, that remains to be seen.

All the statistics have been referenced from Fangraphs.com unless stated otherwise.

The Braves host the Yankees today at Champion Stadium at 1:05 p.m. ET. David Hale will start for the Braves; Ivan Nova for the Yankees. Evan Gattis was scheduled to play in the original lineup, but has been scratched with a mild right quad strain.

BRAVES STARTING LINEUP

1. Jason Heyward - RF
2. B.J. Upton - CF
3. Freddie Freeman - 1B
4. Justin Upton - LF
5. Chris Johnson - 3B
6. Dan Uggla - 2B
7. Andrelton Simmons - SS
8. Steve Lerud - C
9. David Hale - P

YANKEES STARTING LINEUP

1. Brett Gardner - CF
2. Derek Jeter - SS
3. Carlos Beltran - DH
4. Brian McCann - C
5. Alfonso Soriano - RF
6. Brian Roberts - 2B
7. Kelly Johnson - 3B
8. Adonis Garcia - LF
9. Jose Gil - 3B

The game will be on radio at AM 1230 and AM 1340.

Ready to watch some Yankees baseball? Get excit-wait, why isn't this televised

Just about a week and a half to go until we get to games that actually count and are always televised. Today's game meets unfortunately none of those standards. If you want to follow today's game between the Yankees and Braves, you'll have to use Gameday Audio to pick up the Braves' WFOM radio feed or just rely on MLB Gameday. At least there are only two non-televised games remaining in spring training after today.

Ivan Nova gets the start against the Braves' David Hale, Baseball America's #7 Braves prospect, who is trying to win a rotation spot in wake of the injuries to Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, and Mike Minor. The Yankees actually brought most of their regulars on the road trip to the Braves' spring training home in Lake Buena Vista, as the only regulars to skip the trip are Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira. While the Yankees originally reported that both Derek Jeter and Brian McCann would be catching for them, that is regrettably not the case. Damn.

Once the regulars leave, the Yankees' lineup will be replaced by John Ryan Murphy (C), Casey Stevenson (1B), Dean Anna (2B), Yangervis Solarte (SS), Eduardo Nunez (3B), Zelous Wheeler (LF), Antoan Richardson (CF), Zoilo Almonte (RF), and Austin Romine (DH [lol]). Ali Castillo and someone named "Wilson" will also be available off the bench. It is unclear if "Wilson" is High-A Tampa infielder Zach Wilson, Low-A Charleston catcher Wes Wilson, or this well-rounded prospect. I know who I want to see.

Nova will be relieved by Danny Burawa, Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral, and Shane Greene. Yoshinori Tateyama, Aaron Dott, Graham Stoneburner, and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte will also be available in the bullpen if needed.

The rising 27-year-old looked sharp in throwing 6 1/3 nearly-perfect innings.

If the regular season started tomorrow, Ivan Nova apparently would be ready to go. The right-hander was excellent today against the Braves, and the Yankees won the exhibition, 7-0. This wasn't just a lineup of nobodies by the Braves, either. Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, the Upton brothers, Chris Johnson, Andrelton Simmons, and Dan Uggla all started for Atlanta since the Yankees were playing on the road. B.J. Upton and Uggla looked awful last year, but the rest of the lineup was great.

Nonetheless, Nova was almost perfect in 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two baserunners in a shutout performance. Nova didn't walk anybody, and the Braves' only two hits came on a soft fly by Simmons into right field during the third and a pinch-hit double on a fly ball to right field by lord of darknessRyan Doumit in the sixth. Both runners were stranded in the respective innings. There was no video for this game, but the Braves announcers on Gameday Audio were impressed by Nova's curve, as it made both Uptons, Johnson, and Uggla look silly on strikeouts. Brett Gardner reportedly made a nice catch on a long fly ball to center by B.J. Upton to rob him of extra bases, though maybe the Braves announcers just made that up. (They were mispronouncing Yankees all afternoon long, so who even knows?) Granted, it's not very difficult to make B.J. Upton and Uggla look bad these days, but it would be tough to deny that Nova was excellent. He departed with one out in the seventh inning after a weak grounder by Freeman. Danny Burawa relieved Nova and after giving up a double to the superior Upton, he stranded him on a pair of grounders.

On offense, the Yankees brought a mostly-complete lineup to the Braves' spring training complex, and they handled Braves rotation candidate David Hale pretty well. They got off to a fast start when Gardner led off the game with a walk, stole second, and came home on a Carlos Beltran single. That's the kind of rally that would be excellent to see at the start of a regular season game. The Yankees went in order for the next nine batters during the next couple innings, but Brian Roberts kicked off a two-out rally in the third inning on a single through the right side. Kelly Johnson followed with a walk, and while the Braves announcers discussed Adonis Garcia's "bulge" and other superficial looks over a couple Rob Roys, Garcia doubled to left to bring home two more runs and make it 3-0.

The score stayed that way until the seventh, when Luis Vazquez was in the game for the Braves. The B-team sparked a rally this time, as Jose Gil worked a walk and Antoan Richardson pinch-ran, stealing a base after narrowly avoiding a pick-off attempt. Gardner walked as well and Derek Jeter bounced into a fielder's choice to move Richardson to third. Jeter departed for a pinch-runner and received a nice hand from the fans as he left the field. Unless the Yankees and Braves meet in the World Series, this is the last time Atlanta fans will see the man whose teams beat theirs in the World Series twice during the '90s.

Beltran came through again with another RBI single to bring home the Yankees' fourth run, and the Braves' defense gifted the Yankees a fifth run when a wild throw by Simmons on a double play attempt scored pinch-runner Yangervis Solarte. That run can partially be blamed on Vazquez being late to cover the bag at first, but so it goes. The Yankees tacked on a couple more runs in the ninth when the Braves brought in someone awful named Juan Jaime. They didn't get a single hit in the inning but walked four times to make it 6-0. Ryne Harper relieved Jaime and after striking out Eduardo Nunez, he walked Zelous Wheeler to run the score up to 7-0.

Shane Greene, Cesar Cabral, and Dellin Betances all seemed fine in closing out the game's last two innings, each recording two outs to finish off the shutout. Televised baseball returns tomorrow as the Yankees travel to the Red Sox spring training complex in Ft. Myers for a rare spring night game at 7pm. The game will be available on YES, ESPN, and MLB.tv.

Box score.

The Yankees successfully withstood a swarm of bees to down the Red Sox on Tuesday. But what other possible disasters could befall them in the upcoming season?

Most of the previews and analysis that you'll be seeing regarding the Yankees' upcoming season will focus on such unimportant matters as roster construction and player projections. But the events that unfolded Tuesday made it clear that there are forces out there that could easily impact the Yankees beyond any roster cuts or additions. Sure, Mark Teixeira was able to ward off the bees with his curious honey stores, but next time the event might not be so easy to quell. I've gathered some of the possible anomalies that could surface in fate's never-ending attempts to derail the Yankee Machine.

The Injury Bug

A mythical creature that is often found nesting in the locker rooms of older teams and those who employ Brian Roberts. It has already consumed much of the Atlanta Braves and Oakland A's pitching staffs, and could come for the Yankees and their elder statesmen if they're not careful. Eduardo Nunez has claimed to have seen "The Injury Bug" parked in his driveway.

Suggestions: walk around in bubble wrap and take your vitamins. Don't be Carl Pavano.

Communicable Illnesses

Spending a ton of time in close quarters with other filthy, sweaty humans. Shaking the hands of filthy, snot-covered children. Viruses are everywhere and can spread like wildfire through a team. Anything from the common cold to the Black Death could cause multiple key players to miss games at crucial moments in the season.

Suggestions: lots of hand sanitizer and Grandma's Famous Chicken Soup.

Even More Insects!

Bees are far from the worst wicked insect that could plague the Yankees this season. Did you know that there are over a dozen different types of insects roaming the Earth? Some will poison you, some will sting you and others will lay eggs in you. Imagine a swarm of bullet ants running into the Yankees dugout in the middle of an inning against the Red Sox! How does a team come back from that? Sure, a lot of these horrible insects aren't native to the United States, but all it takes is a player coming back from some time off in his native land with a few of the buggers in his suitcase and it's all over.

Suggestions: plenty of OFF! and make sure to not leave food lying around. That's how you get ants.

Zombies

After doing research in preparation for this article for a few minutes, it became apparent that the prevailing opinion in the "scientific community" is that zombies do not exist. But my eyes aren't fooling me, zombies are everywhere. Television, movies, romance novels, Wal-Mart. They're all over the place. So it's important that should any Yankees player become one of the living dead, that his teammates dispatch of him posthaste or else the entire roster could be lost in a mere matter of hours.

Suggestions: remove the head, or destroy the brain.

The Apocalypse

Oh, it's coming.

Suggestion: hope you're playing in a domed stadium when it goes down.

Some of these situations are probably less likely to occur than others, but it's important that the entire Yankees organization be prepared for any possible scenario. It's not just other teams gunning after the Yankees. It became clear on Tuesday that the very forces of Nature are conspiring against the team to stop their run to another title. And it's sure to be worse than midges or bees next time.

Austin Jackson has led off in Detroit for four years. Is he ready for a transition to a new role?

Austin Jarriel Jackson was born and raised in north Texas. I trust he avoided this year's harsh Michigan winter, or he may be looking forward to moving to a team in a warmer climate. At Denton's Billy Ryan High School, Austin was a two sport star. Baseball America named him the best 12 year old in the nation, and he repeated as the best 15 year old. Which begs the question, do we really need to rank middle school baseball players nationally? He was also ranked as the tenth best high school point guard in the country. He still has mad hops.

Jackson committed to playing baseball and basketball at Georgia Tech. The Yankees derailed those plans by drafting him in the eighth round of the 2005 draft, and offering an $800,000 signing bonus. The Yankees were grooming him to be next in a long line of memorable centerfielders. But Dave Dombrowski swung a three team deal, basically betting that Jackson could replace Curtis Granderson and for far less money. Dombrowski comes out ahead in most trades, and this was no exception. Jackson was a prospect without any big league experience, but immediately made an impact in Detroit.

Contract Status

Austin Jackson is signed for one year at $6 million. Next year will be his last under team control. Teams are valuing each win over a replacement player at $6 million, so Jackson should be worth three to five times his pay.

Keys to Success

Austin's keys for 2014 are to hit in the lower half of the order and have a strikeout rate less than 20%. Jackson has decreased his strikeout rate each of the last three years. His BABIP (batting average on balls in play) bounces around as it is prone to do, and will not likely ever return to .396, but by putting the ball in play more often he has a better chance of reaching base. After his struggles in the 2013 postseason, and subsequent success when dropped out of the leadoff spot, he appears destined for a lower spot in the order.

Odd Numbers

99: Austin Jackson fell one run scored short of 100 last year, with only 129 games played. Getting on base in front of Miguel Cabrera helps. He will not score as frequently in 2014 hitting behind Cabrera, but could be healthier. Playing 152 games could lead to 100 runs scored, which would be a big plus for a lower spot in the order.

2014 Outlook

This is the year Jackson follows Granderson's career arc, moving from focusing on speed to power. Others can take the leadoff and speed roles now. Austin has been tearing up spring training batting .459 / .500 / .784. This year he will set a career high for home runs. The over/under on how many times he dives in the outfield is two.

Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

• What if the bees are just the beginning?
• Yankees 7, Braves 0: Ivan Nova dazzles a strong Braves lineup
• Spring Training Game Twenty Two: Yankees at Braves
• Sizing up the Yankees' American League competition: AL West
• Yankees Injury Updates: Ellsbury, Sizemore, Ryan, Austin

Yankees News

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: Signing Brian McCann gives the Yankees the flexibility to trade one of their other catchers.

Baseball America | Matt Eddy:Masahiro Tanaka ranks as one of the top rookies going into the 2014 season.

It's About the Money | Michael Eder: What would it take to acquire Didi Gregorius in a trade with the Diamondbacks?

New York Times | Tyler Kepner:Shawn Kelley is among a group of pitchers who have needed Tommy John surgery twice.

Fangraphs | Jeff Sullivan: The Yankees rank toward the top of the list in the catcher power rankings for all 30 teams.

Pinstripe Pundits | Chris Mitchell: A look at the Yankees' 2014 competition, the Baltimore Orioles.

New York Daily News | Christian Red: The legal team of Alex Rodriguez in his malpractice suit is trying to prevent his deposition from being recorded.

ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand: Between Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Adam Warren, and Vidal Nuno, it looks like the Yankees have a lot of rotation depth.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Ivan Nova is coming of age as he learns to pitch, not just throw.

NoMaas | Vizzini: Forecasting the Yankees' 2014 win total.

Joe Girardi has been impressed with what he's seen from Kelly Johnson so far. So impressed that Johnson might not even need a platoon partner at third base.

Throughout spring training, it has seemed like the Yankees were looking to add one more person to the infield who could platoon with Kelly Johnson at third base. Back in February, Brian Cashman even said, "We look for it to be a platoon situation, a lefty-righty situation." Now it sounds like the Yankees are changing their tune.

In an interview Wednesday, Joe Girardi said that they had thought about a platoon going into the season, "But [Johnson's] at-bats have been good against right handers (and) left handers. There’s some different things we can do with it, obviously. He’s going to play a lot, let’s put it that way." Girardi also said that Johnson would be spelling Brian Roberts and second base and Mark Teixeira at first base, so it sounds like they're really looking for a player to fill in for Johnson at third occasionally when he's covering second or first.

Historically, Johnson has not hit quite as well against righties as he has against lefties. As of Wednesday, Johnson is batting .400/.500/.900 against lefties and .190/.346/.238 against righties through 31 at-bats during spring training. Obviously that's a small sample size, but as of now, Johnson is hitting well enough for Girardi to say that he likes what he sees and expects him to play a lot.

At this point, knowing the Yankees, you kind of have to think that Eduardo Nunez would be Johnson's platoon partner if they went with a platoon. Nunez's defense alone would probably cancel out any positive impact that he could make with his bat. In his career, Nunez has hit .264/.314/.357 against righties versus Johnson's career of .244/.335/.424 against righties. Do you see how Nunez has hit remarkably better against righties? Oh, wait... Unless the Yankees find an alternative option for a platoon partner (which seems unlikely, since they are so unwilling to cut Nunez), then it seems that Johnson should be the starting third baseman, and the Yankees should just forget the platoon. At least for the time being.

Do you think the Yankees should platoon Johnson? If so, with who?