Cringing at Sabathia's attempted barehand plays

The Yankees need to talk to C.C. Sabathia about barehanding balls hit back at the mound. He was extraordinarily good again tonight in Cleveland, allowing three runs in seven innings while striking out eight. But twice during the game, he reached for batted balls hit at him with his pitching hand. The last thing the newly-gelled Yankees need is a silly injury to their ace.

Sabathia is pitching like himself now, though. Over his last five starts Sabathia is 4-0, bringing his record to 5-3. Over that stretch, he has gone 39 innings, allowing nine runs (2.08 ERA) while striking out 32. He has allowed 26 hits and nine walks in those starts for a WHIP of 0.90. His ERA for the season now stands at 3.46, and he has 56 strikeouts in 78 innings pitched. He has started to appear in the top-10 of many of the American League pitching categories.

That is why it is so alarming to see C.C. trying to grab the ball with those valuable fingers. The first time he went for the ball, he was 4.1 innings into no-hitting his old team, so I understand the impulse to preserve the game. But the second time, it appeared that he was simply frustrated because he had run into a little trouble. Joe Girardi needs to tell him that it is best for the team if Sabathia uses his glove or lets his infielders go for the ball.

Besides that snipe, the Yanks are looking pretty solid at 29-20. They sit 1.5 games up on the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays atop the AL East leader board. They are two games up in the loss column on Boston, and three games up on Toronto.

GAME NOTES 5/31...Jorge Posada homered in the Yankees 10-5 victory over Cleveland, and looked comfortable at the plate for the second straight day since he came off the disabled list...Nick Swisher also hit a long home run to center field, putting his season total at 10...Jose Veras gave up two runs in an inning of relief, pushing his season ERA to 6.97. He threw 14 strikes out of his 23 pitches and gave up a home run to Shin-Soo Choo. Veras continues not to look like the confident late inning reliever he was last year. The Yankees have to hope that Alfredo Aceves is truly an answer for them at setup man...Michael Kay said that the Yankees were unlikely to keep three catchers when Jose Molina returns to the club shortly. That spells an end to Francisco Cervelli's productive stint with the club. The kid definitely earned a closer look in the coming seasons.

Jeter, A-Rod headline Yankees' WBC Provisionals

The 45-man provisional rosters for the teams that will compete in the World Baseball Classic have been announced.

Derek Jeter, also known as Captain America, will indeed be just that this spring when the games kick off. As the veteran captain and starting shortstop for the U.S. squad, Jeter carries the weight of the team's success on his back even though he is nowhere near the best player.

Alex Rodriguez will play Benedict Arnold to Derek Jeter's George Washington in the 2009 Classic. Rodriguez will be playing for the Dominican Republic this season, despite playing for the States in the '06 tournament and spending much of his childhood on our shores.

The provisional rosters will be pared down before the start of play.

Other Yankees listed on the provisional rosters included: Pitcher Alfredo Aceves (Mexico), outfielder Melky Cabrera, second baseman Robinson Cano and pitchers Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras and Damaso Marte (Dominican Republic) and catcher Francisco Cervelli (Italy).

Former Yankees on the list include: catcher Dioner Navarro and outfielders Juan Rivera and Bobby Abreu (Venezuela), pitcher Octavio Dotel (Dominican Republic), catcher Sal Fasano (Italy), outfielder Karim Garcia (Mexico), pitcher Ted Lilly (USA), third baseman Mike Lowell, outfielder Bernie Williams, pitcher Javier Vazquez and catcher Ivan Rodriguez (Puerto Rico), pitcher Ramiro Mendoza and outfielder Ruben Rivera (Panama) and pitcher Sidney Ponson (Netherlands).

Yankees get Cash

The New York Yankees signed former Boston Red Sox backup catcher Kevin Cash to a minor league deal on Wednesday.

This is a minor signing, as illustrated by the $700,000 price tag for the one-year contract, and by the fact that he is headed for the minors. But realistically, this move could end up impacting the Yankees this year.

The Yankees insist that Jorge Posada is going to catch this year. I am not sold. He is coming off of a year in which he could not hit the broadside of a barn. Posada is no Carl Pavano. He was really hurting and the results showed it. Will he be 100 percent this season? Will he be 100 percent ever again? I am not sure that can be expected and only time will tell. 

But Brian Cashman cannot really be this sure either and I wonder if it makes sense to sign a .184 career hitter to be Jose Molina's backup assuming that Francisco Cervelli, a fringe/backup defensive specialist much like Molina (but less of a sure thing) isn't ready for the bigs (which he may simply never be, based on his skill set). 

This ultimately underscores the point that the Yankees do not have long term plans at catcher, and may need to sign a Joe Mauer or a Brian McCann once they hit the market. If Posada can not perform at his expected level, the Yankees are going to suffer. They simply have not thought through a realistic alternative should Posada go down. I don't mean to pick at Jose Molina. He is one of the best backup catchers in baseball. But he is a backup, and the Yanks are putting themselves in position to be caught with their pants down if Posada's shoulder proves to be balky next season. 

They need a plan for the future...and for the present, there are certainly better contingency plans with higher all-around upside (Johnny Estrada, Brad Ausmus, Gregg Zaun, Pudge Rodriguez, Paul Lo Duca, Jason Varitek, Michael Barrett, hell even Josh Bard, Robby Hammock and Toby Hall) than Cash that wouldn't have cost much more than $700,000. I would like to say, however, that none of the catchers in that group make me salivate or could realistically be classified as the solution to the dilemma of who will follow Posada. I just fail to see how signing Cash makes the Yankees more prepared in the event that Posada's arm falls off.

And I just don't think this signing stung the Red Sox as much as Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez or Mark Teixeira.