Has the Yankee Catching Competition Already Been Decided?

Has the catching competition already been decided? Brian Cashman previously mentioned that Francisco Cervelli still had one minor league option, meaning that if he didn't make the team out of camp he could be optioned down to Triple-A to begin the season. Now it seems that Cashman has made a mistake and Cervelli is, in fact, out of options.

Cashman clarified Cervelli has no options. Neither does Stewart. Romine does. Asked about comp, Cashman said he likes guys with no options.

— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) February 24, 2013

That means now that if Cervelli doesn't make the team he'll have to pass through waivers first before being reassigned to Scranton. He surely won't make it through the process and the Yankees would lose a fair amount of depth in their catching position. When you don't have talent, you need depth and the competition that was supposed to be Cervelli, Austin Romine, Chris Stewart, and Bobby Wilson now feels even more flimsy than it previously had.

If Cashman is to be believed, he has stated that he "likes guys with no options" and with Cervelli and Stewart being the two players without options, logic dictates that that will be the Yankee catching tandem to at least begin the 2013 regular season. This could all be a ploy to get Romine to up his game this spring, which he already has after singling in two runs in the spring opener on Saturday. However, if history says anything it's that the Yankees will not have an open competition if they already haven't decided who will win.

From the beginning they stated Romine would start in Triple-A, but they also said he'd compete. Would the Yankees call him up if he impresses and risk losing one of their out of options catchers, or will this be the permanent catching situation for the year, barring injuries? Only the Yankees know the truth, so you can take this all at face value or this could all be misdirection for some alternate purpose.