I was excited when the Yanks acquired Jon Albaladejo from the Nats last offseason for AAAA righty Tyler Clippard. It seemed a great job of dealing from a strength (AAA starters) to reinforce a weakness.
One of the transformative things I watched Joe G. do last season was blend the bullpen, liberally calling players up and sending them down.
And now Jonny A. has a healthy elbow and is back in camp looking better than ever. And he's not the only one:
Brian Bruney is trimmer, as earlier reported, but Jonathan Albaladejo also looks like he's down about 15 to 20 pounds. Phil Coke, clean-shaven Nick Swisher and Dan Giese also look ready to go.
I've read a lot of arguments that Girardi has to lighten up in his second year in the Bronx. Mussina won 20 games last season- shouldn't that restore candy and ice cream to the clubhouse for the next decade? They should be there at least as long as it took Moose to win those 20.
One thing I hope doesn't change is Girardi's dedication to hard work. When a pitcher generously listed at 250 comes to came at least 15(!) pounds lighter, the manager is doing something right.