Trucks are pulling in and out of the New Yankee Stadium loading docks at all hours, stocking Fort Knox-like concrete cellars with war-stores of frozen hot dogs, beer kegs, crates of peanuts, and all manner of goods. The workers are peeling the last shards of plastic film off the many LCD screens and aluminum plaques that yard-mark the inner halls. A box containing brand new ”frieze motif ” ashtrays sits on a shiny desk of a plush office where a rectangular brass plaque gleams: ”The Hank”.
A chartered jet idles on a Tampa tarmac. Joe Girardi has one last decision to make. After waves of cuts, the New York Yankee A-Squad has been chiseled nearly to completion.
The rotation will be CC Sabathia, C.M. Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and Joba Chamberlain. The infield is Cody Ransom (filling in for A-Rod), Derek Jeter, Robbie Cano, and Mark Teixeira. The outfield is a combination of Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher, and Melky Cabrera. Hideki Matsui is the DH. Jorge Posada catches and Jose Molina backs him up. With the latest announcement that Jonathan Albaladejo has made the squad, the bullpen is racheted up to seven members: Albaladejo, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez, and of course, the great Mariano Rivera.
That leaves the utility infield spot open to conjecture.
The Yankees signed 31-year-old shortstop Angel Berroa to a minor-league contract in January on the hope that he reclaims some of the batting form that earned him Rookie of the Year honors in 2003, when he bashed 17 home runs and drove 73 runs in. That was his best year; either by being well-scouted by opponents or by nagging injury, he has not replicated that kind of success. The Yankees are looking at both his offensive upside and his 2500+ Major League at-bats to possibly stop the current gap.
Battling Angel for the job is 22-year-old Ramiro Pena of Monterey, Mexico. Ramiro has spent four years on the Yankee plantations and has reached as high as AA - including two years of injury setbacks. Ramiro is widely regarded as the Yankee organization’s light-hitting flashy-fielding shortstop, a classic baseball occupation that is re-emerging with real value in the post-PED marketplace. The Yanks might look to build upon an excellent spring showing at the plate – .305 / .359 / .373 in 65 plate appearances – and get him late-inning at-bats as a defensive substitution in the Bronx to push along his development.
(As an aside, I won’t speak of who will replace Derek Jeter as I am an avowed Jeterist and The Order permits me from speculating on life after Jeter and all other such heresies).
I will say that the twenty-fifth Yankee will enjoy the opportunity he will be granted, and will be the envy of many an aspiring ballplayer - even though he’ll be riding the pine this year.
Topics: angel berroa, New York Yankees, Ramiro Pena, Yankee Stadium
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[...] have 24 players set in stone for Opening Day. My BBD article sums it up. The more I talk about Ramiro Pena the more I want to see him with the [...]