AL East

Derek Jeter's range at shortstop has been scrutinized a lot in the media recently as Yankees writers are already worrisome of the Yankees' defense in 2009.  Frankly, it's pissing me off.

The New York Yankees came into 2009 with more depth on offense than any year since Darryl Strawberry came off the bench.

With the acquisition of Nick Swisher and the emergence of Brett Gardner in center field, head coach Joe Girardi had countless ways to mix and match a powerful offensive attack.

The signing of Mark Teixeira, however, was the first spark in an eventual flame out of Girardi’s plans.

It is impossible to question the signing of a dynamite offensive leader in his prime who also possesses top-notch defensive prowess.

The NEW York Yankees—out with the old and in with the new. With the recent acquisitions of "big name" players such as A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees are beginning to show that they, as a team, are once again a "big name" team.

The Yankees, coming off a most disappointing season, are setting their sights on that precious World Series Championship, of which they have not had the honor of winning since 2000, when they defeated the Mets in the Subway Series.

I suspect I'm not a whole lot different than you are in many ways. 

When 'Old Time Rock And Roll' blasts from the radio, I grab my wife's hair brush and slide across the hardwood floor wearing nothing but a white Hathaway button down and a pair of Fruit of the Looms.

Here is a list of how the Yankees have done so far in spring training. Keep in mind that nobody even has 50 at-bats, so the sample size is a little bit too small to draw conclusions from. It’s still nice to see how people are doing.

The list is via ESPN, and I took out quite a few guys with less than 10 at-bats, although not everyone.

Stats as of March 19, 2009

Here's a press release from the Yankees:

George Kottaras has won the backup catching job for Boston.

Bard's second stint with the Red Sox is over before it began.

In Spring Training, Bard has shown more of what got him traded the first time around: inability to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball.

On a side note, George Kottaras has proven to be able to catch the knuckler from Ol' Reliable.

Joe Girardi says that Hideki Matsui will not play the outfield until June this season, according to the Associated Press.

In yesterday’s article, No Room in Yankees Pen for Joba Anyways, I wrote about the current state of the Yankees' bullpen and the depth that they have now that they didn’t a year ago.

One player I left out of the article was Steven Jackson. Jackson is a 27-year-old reliever who was left out because his upside isn’t as high as some of the other pitchers, but I should have included him because of his spot on the 40-man roster.