The starting line-up and roster

The reason they cut Hoffman is because they thought Thames would prove more useful. So no, I don’t think he’ll be traded.

in the two-hole soon, either because Johnson gets injured or when Girardi figures out Grandy is not going to get ANY good pitches hitting seventh. Too much talent to waste putting him there. Also, how do all of you feel about Hughes strarting over Joba? If you really thought Joba was going to win this spot, you were delusional. Why so many of you say last year was a waste I don’t understand. We won the Series, who cares if a lot of time was given to Joba to become a starter? It IS obvious he’s better from out of the bullpen and we shouldn’t diminish the importance of having a strong bullpen. If Hughes falters, I think he’ll be left in there to take his lumps. I still believe both will be starting due to injury, etc., unless Joba just becomes too damn good out of the pen to move him again, in which case Mitre may get thrown into the rotation.

meant no need to trade for Vazquez and his $11 million salary.

So it would seem somebody did not want to take the risk they they could both start and help the Yankees win the series in 2010. Or they wanted depth.

I might have taken that risk, but if wrong, Plan B would have been Mitre, Gaudin, AA or trade for someone. None really great options.

I expect Andy will be done after this year. Maybe Vazquez too. After a year in the pen can Joba come back and be a starter? I think yes, unless he is invaluable there.

On the prospect issue – Yankees always want to win NOW and are reluctant to let a young player learn on the job if it can cost them a WS. Cano did it. Wang did it. Melky did it. Before them – who? Yeah, they trade away prospects.

Vazquez will be done? What a bunch of crap. He is not retiring and neither is Andy. This is getting almost as annoying as ‘I played bad because I was hurt’. What are these players talking about? Pettite has said he was going to retire every year since 1996 and Vazquez apparently wants to join the bandwagon. The bullpen is a very important part of a team. Has everyone forgot? I hope people realize it wasn’t just A-Rod coming back that got us on track. All those come-from-behind and late inning wins weren’t just the offense. Anybody remember 1996? I am personally stoked to have Joba and Mariano in the pen. This is flucking awesome. I think he is a better pitcher then Hughes but I also can’t wait to have Joba come in after the sixth in crucial games and Mariano closing the door. More comeback wins! Robbie and CGrand should be switched indefinetly and even though Tex has awful Aprils, batting him cleanup instead of third won’t really help things with this lineup. The bottom of our order could look pretty bad if these guys don’t pan out (worse case scenario). I am not a big fan of Thames and after this spring I’m really freaked out. I predict a release here sometime before mid season. Hoffman must really feel like crap with this guy making the cut over him. Thames will be a decent fill in for the Pirates. It won’t be carrying two lefties in the pen, much to my disgruntlment, but everyone calmed me down a little (and so did having Joba in there…) Joba is, never was, never will be, and never would’ve been Randy Johnson. Come on, talk about hype. No one was as hyped as Melky. What a steal Vazquez is for us. Melky was basically the team mascot the last couple of years. He hit a couple of game winners last year because pitchers would serve it up to him thinking he was easy compared to the rest of the HOF sluggers and he would crank it in the bleachers. Austin Jackson? Give me a break, does anyonre realize he walked 40 times and struck out 120+ last year in AAA, has very little power, is a lousy baserunner and the Tigers want to bat him leadoff. A joke and another great move. GO YANKS IN 2010!!