The Yanks are offering Arod arbitration, mostly so they can get the two draft picks when he signs with another team.  Pete Abraham says it's 99-1 against that Boras would accept arbitration, but if teams are holding firm against the $300 million / 10 year demands, there's a chance it could happen.  What would happen if Arod went to arbitration?

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Playoffs?  Don't talk about playoffs- you kidding me?  Playoffs?
But seriously, the Boston talk radio people actually made a good point (it happens sometimes) about the ALDS this year- one of the two series has enough off days that you can pitch all 5 games with just a 3 man rotation and still have everyone on regular rest.  The ALCS, you can go with 3 men if you're willing to pitch games 1 and 4 with just 3 days rest (then game 7 on regular rest.)  In all series there are never 3 games in a row- the bullpen should be well rested and Joba should be available for most games.

Poll

What rotation should the Yankees use in the ALDS?

50%

Playoffs? Lets qualify first!

13 votes

11%

3 man- Andy and Wang can carry them through the series

3 votes

34%

4 man- You can't ice a starter for a whole series

9 votes

3%

5 man- Bring back Kei!

1 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

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A place for everyone to commiserate over Joe Buck's Red Sox love fest, McCarver's brilliant insights, the idiocy of San Fran fans having orgasms over Barry Bonds' every movement, and the spectacle of the AAAA players going for their 10th straight loss to the major leaguers.

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Incentives matter.  Reward people for certain actions, and people will do whatever they can to get the reward.  Baseball is no exception- when certain rules change, people modify their behavior to obtain optimal results under the new rule.
What follows is a thought experiment on one (of many) possible (and perhaps far-fetched) cause of the incentives to take steroids, and the apparent solution- stadium design.

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It seems that the era of "Joe's guys" may be coming to an end and we'll see players on the field based on their talent.  According to the Times today, some younger players with better spring performances are expected to make the roster over older, "trusted" players.
Nieves/Pratt/chair cushion is a tossup for backup catcher, since all of them hit under .200 this spring, and will have to be addressed with a trade during the season.  However, at first base it looks like Josh Phelps will get on the roster over Andy Phillips:

Phelps is a year younger than Phillips, who turns 30 next week, and he has 210 more games of major league experience, with a better career average (.268 to .228) and more power. Playing last season at Class AAA Toledo in the Detroit farm system, Phelps batted .308 with 24 homers and 90 runs batted in....
Phelps is batting .400 with 3 homers and 10 R.B.I. He has three seasons in the majors with at least 15 homers.

In the bullpen, Sean Henn will likely be a middle lefty over Ron Villone:

Villone signed a non-guaranteed contract that calls for him to earn $2.5 million if he makes the opening-day roster. Because he costs so much more than the rookie Henn, Villone had to pitch better than Henn to make the roster.
Instead, he has pitched worse, with a 14.40 earned run average. In nine games, opponents have batted .520. Henn has a 3.00 E.R.A. and a .182 opponents' average.

I'm not sure about Henn, but this was still a no brainer- the last couple days, Villone had the dreaded "0.0 IP, pitched to x batters in the nth" in the box score.  It's nice to see that there is some point where you can be so bad that you can lose your place as one of Joe's Guys.  It's a little sad because one reason Villone may be so terrible now is due to Joe burning him out last year.
Most importantly, it looks like CashMan is stepping in and making Joe a little more sane on these sorts of decisions:

The additions of Henn, Nieves and Phelps represent a subtle organizational shift. Villone, Pratt and Phillips all fit the classic Torre profile because of their experience. But General Manager Brian Cashman wants to make the team younger and cheaper, and Torre is on board with that.

We'll see whether this translates to things like bullpen usage during the season and whether Joe can finally start using more than 3 relievers in a given week.

Update, 12:15pm: Selections confirmed at yankees.com. Karstens will start on the DL, Bruney and Rasner also made the team. Your 2007 New York Yankees:

SP: Pavano Pettitte Mussina Igawa Rasner (Replaced by Wang in 4 weeks)

RP: Myers Henn Bruney Vizcaino Proctor Farnsworth Rivera

OF: Matsui Abreu Damon Cabrera

IF: 1B: Mientkiewicz, Phelps, Giambi (DH) 2B: Cano SS: Jeter 3B: Rodriguez IF: Cairo C: Posada, Nieves

Anyone who's wanted to go to a Sox-Yankees game but has been afraid of the cost, you should go this week.  There are a huge number of tickets out there, things are selling under face value.

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There's something I'd like to know which anyone with some time could figure out- what are the salaries of the teams in the postseason, including only those players on the 25-man roster?  Everyone talks about the Yanks spending >$200 million, but a lot of that has been a bust.  I suspect the Yankees are still the highest in the postseason, but they're probably down around Boston's level.  

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