Yankees Starting to Click

The Yankees currently find themselves in the middle of a five-game winning streak, and the last three against the Minnesota Twins have been worthy of writing home about.

Friday night: Melky Cabrera hits a two-run single to tie the game and then walk off with a victory in the ninth.

Saturday night: Alex Rodriguez hits a two-run shot to win the game in extra innings.

Sunday night: Johnny Damon takes one to right to win the game 3-2 in the 10th.

The Yankees finally seem to be clicking. The pitching has been solid, the offense timely, and the team is starting to rally around one another. The mobs at home plate have been predictably boisterous, and A.J. Burnett has started a trend of hitting the walk-off hero in the face with a whipped cream pie.

This is looking promising. I wonder what they have in store for tomorrow. But the most important part of all of this dramatic baseball is that you get the sense that the Yanks are starting to feel like they are never out of a ballgame. It is that kind of swagger that wins divisions, and yes, wins championships.

A-Rod also went deep again today, and although Paul O'Neill pointed out that his upper and lower body aren't really in full sync yet, you have to feel like he is getting there. Once he gets going, we can expect Mark Teixeira to wake up a bit, and that's when the real fun begins.

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).

BERROA VERSUS RANSOM: BATTLE OF THE SPRING!!! sike...

The Yankees have filled the most glaring void on their team: a weak-hitting shortstop with a lower fielding percentage than Derek Jeter last season. The man: Angel Berroa. A player so good, the Kansas City Royals outclassed him, and the Dodgers picked him up for a poopsicle, a washing machine, an autographed copy of George W. Bush's autobiography and a dead parrot.

Berroa, a former Rookie of the Year who has become one of the worst players in Major League Baseball, will compete with fellow fringe-man Cody Ransom for the backup infield job created when we traded Wilson Betemit for the now irrelevant and apparently on-the-market Nick Swisher.

Im rooting for Ransom! He is less disappointing because he hasn't done anything of note at the big league level to hope for.

As for Swisher being on the market, apparently the Yankees are trying to move either him or Xavier Nady to thin out their corner outfield/first base surplus.

I was going to write a post imploring the Yanks to keep Nady, but Rob Neyer beat me to the punch again, so it seemed I was stuck to writing about Berroa until I read what he wrote.

Nady is a fourth outfielder in Neyer's opinion. And for once I strongly disagree with him. The guy hit .305 with 25 homers and 97 RBI last season, which he played much of for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I am very confused what about those numbers says fourth outfielder. To me, that says number 5 hitter on most teams. He doesn't walk enough. Which is a big deal, but come on. The rest of the stats are there and he is a good enough all-around player to warrant time on the field. That being said, I bet he hits closer to the .268 he hit after the trade last season, and his OBP might be too low next year if it does happen that way, but he deserves a shot after the flashes of brilliance he showed in '08. I don't feel comfortable with what Swisher and Hideki Matsui will produce next season. They both have serious question marks, based on performance and health, respectively. He is not expendable, especially with Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner in center field. It's frustrating that Neyer thinks he would be worth trading for a decent reliever, especially considering the strength our bullpen showed last season without an effective Damaso Marte.

I view Professor X as one of the keys to next year's squad. Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada and Nady will determine how good the lineup really is. Unless we acquire a Jorge Julio-type for him, in which case the Yanks may not be as good as advertised. If we could get someone near Carlos Marmol's level of setup effectiveness, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I don't think that that many Major League GMs take LSD as a performance enhancer.

Bernie Back in Action

It's winter league season, and a Yankees center fielder picked up an important hit today.

No, my eyes weren't on the Dominican Winter League, where Melky Cabrera has put up some solid numbers through 93 at-bats with the Aguilas Cibaenas. I'm eyeing Bernie Williams, who singled off Jerome Williams of the Oakland Athletics in his first at-bat with Carolina of the Puerto Rican Winter League. He would finish one-for-three. 

Granted, Jerome Williams hasn't done much since 2005, but he was impressive from 2003-05 and has only pitched 42 terrible innings since at the big league level.

But what a joy for Yankees fans to know that Bernie is out there, still capable of hitting a liner up the middle. It reminds us of how he was unceremoniously voted off the island after the 2006 season, when he hit .281 with 12 homers and 61 RBI in 420 AB (two-thirds of a full season, which suggests around 18 homers and 80-90 RBI in 600 AB). For the record, how do you think they would feel about that kind of production out of the Melkman next year? Bernie was slipping on defense...but I still think they could have kept him somewhere...I mean Jesus, were Doug Mientkiewicz, Josh Phelps and Wil Nieves really better on the bench? I know we needed Nieves as a second catcher...and Mientkiewicz to man first...but Josh Phelps stunk and hardly played for the team at all, but I digress.

Bernie is trying to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. I really hope he makes the team and is able to start at DH, at least sometimes. I never thought I'd be this excited to see #51 in another uniform.