Before I start my post I would like to send condolences to my friend Chris on the death of his manhood. He and his girlfriend have been living together for a while now and recently got engaged. I called him yesterday (Sunday) to ask him a question and was told that he would have to call me back because he and his fiance were watching DVRed episodes of "Project Runway" a reality show that pits contestants against each other as they try to get into the fashion industry. I wasn't sure things could get worse than when she made him sit through Brokeback Mountain, but sadly they obviously can. It is only a matter of time before he gives up Maxim and FHM for Marie Claire and In Touch. At this rate, his bachelor party is going to be a bunch of us going to see Spam-a-lot. Let this serve as a cautionary tale to all of you who are contemplating moving in with your girlfriends, at the very least maintain a two television household. And now, a moment of silence....

Alrighty...so with three weeks to go in spring training we're at the stage where teams start setting their rosters, figuring out what they have in short supply, what they have in excess and how to fix one with the other. So here are a few trade scenarios that might make sense:

Yankees get LHP Pedro Feliciano
Mets get OF/IF Shelley Duncan
Why the Yankees do it: Currently they are trying to find a left handed relief pitcher from the group of Sean Henn, Heath Phillips, and Billy Traber - Feliciano is far better than any of them. While the Yankees would like to keep Duncan his spot could be filled by Jason Lane or Morgan Ensberg, both of whom are having good springs.
Why the Mets do it: Duncan offers the Mets a right handed bat off the bench and a good option to back up both Delgado at 1st and Alou in LF. The Mets have good depth at reliever and could afford to part with one of them.

San Fran gets Joe Crede, Jose Contreras
Chi White Sox gets Jonathan Sanchez, Randy Winn
Why the Giants do it: Offensively the Giants are a mess. Crede is not exactly Alex Rodriguez or even Pedro Feliz at third, but he is an upgrade to the San Fran lineup. The Giants also could use a starter with the injury to Noah Lowery. Winn, Dave Roberts, and Fred Lewis are all pretty interchangeable parts.
Why the Sox do it: With Josh Fields Crede becomes redundant. They aren't sure what Connor Jackson will provide and having Winn is a nice insurance policy. Their rotation is pretty thin after the trade of Jon Garland but I believe if they did this deal they could turn around and sign either Kyle Loshe or Freddy Garcia (if they want to wait for him to be ready in June) and not really miss a beat.

Cleveland Indians get Jason Bay
Pittsburgh Pirates get Cliff Lee, Trevor Crowe, Andy Marte, Franklin Gutierrez
Why the Tribe does it: They have a good young core but could use one more bat to put them over the top. They can part with Gutierrez and move the Michaels/Delucci platoon to RF to make room for Bay. Lee has been a major disappointment since signing his 3 year deal and there are no spots for either Marte or Crowe.
Why the Pirates do it: The Pirates having Jason Bay is like a homeless guy owning a Lamborghini - it's nice to have but really not what you need. As I said, Lee has been disappointing for the Tribe but maybe a change of scenary helps him turn things around (as does a trip to the National League) Crowe and Marte would help the Pirates build up their young talent pool.

There are lots of other minor moves that could be made, but just thought I would use these three to get the party started. Remember boys - parental controls can block out Project Runway too...

It isn't often that a spring training game gets a ton of attention, especially the 9th inning of a spring training game when all the regulars have already showered and headed off to wherever the regulars go when their day is done, but here in New York a play in the 9th inning of yesterday's game between the Yankees and Devil-free Rays is all anyone can talk about. And by anyone I mean myself, Yankee fans, and bored radio hosts who do not want to talk about the Knicks, hockey, or Duke vs. UNC.

A Tampa minor leaguer with little/no shot of ever being a major leaguer ran over Francisco Cervelli at the plate with one out in the ninth. Scouts agree that Cervelli will likely be a major leaguer at some point, though probably a back up due to his lack of a power bat. As a result of the collision Cervelli will miss about 8-10 weeks with a broken wrist.

For his part this was Joe Girardi called the play "uncalled for" and added:

"I'm all for playing hard, but I don't think it's the time when you run over a catcher in spring training," Girardi said. "I don't understand it. It happens in the season and, as a catcher, I understand that. But in spring training, I don't believe in it."

As for Maddon's response: "I never read that rule before," Maddon said in response to the thought that there was an unwritten rule against running the catcher - which is just a stupid comment since it is impossible to read unwritten rules though Maddon has been around baseball long enough to know it exists. Maddon continues, "We try to play the game the same way on March 8 as we do on June 8. We don't differentiate between a spring training game and a regular-season game. We play it hard and we play it right every day."

Look, I understand what Maddon is trying to do. We all agree that these Rays are, physically, a far better team than they have had there in years, but winning is as much mental as it is physical. Maddon's got a young team with no experience at winning and the first thing he has to do is get his players to take every game seriously and play hard from the first pitch to the last one. 

That said, I agree with scouts who have worried aloud that Maddon's style this spring is going to get some of his key players hurt. Teams will start to throw at their players and things will snowball from there. Picture Carl Crawford standing in against a Yankee prospect who is not going to make the club, a player who may be teammates with Cervelli in the minors, who knows that Joe Girardi didn't like the way a non-prospect took out a young Yankee and so with all that going through his head the young pitcher comes inside on Crawford and hits him in the wrist, shattering it. Will Maddon chalk that up to "part of the game" or will he call it dirty? How about a Houston prospect retaliating for Carl Crawford plowing over their catcher by going in hard at third and taking out top Tampa prospect Evan Longoria?

Had this happened a month from now, no one would have complained. But there are different rules in spring than there are in the regular season. Or are there?

The Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox are close to a deal that will send Coco Crisp to the Windy City for Jason Marquis and Sam Fuld. - source Chicago Cub Reporter

Not a terrible trade for either team, but a far better trade for the Cubs than the Red Sox. Coco Crisp will be effective as a back-up for the Cubs but Jason Marquis will be completely ineffective for the Red Sox. I understand that the idea is for him to step in and compete with Bartolo Colon for the rotation spot vacated by Curt Schilling and to serve as insurance against the back issues of Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield, but I have no reason to think that a pitcher who has been a poor National League pitcher since the end of the 2004 season will be effective in the American League East.

Normally I don't feel bad for the Mets - and now is no exception, but today they added Moises Alou to the list of injured Met players, sending him back to NY for an MRI on what WFAN in New York is reporting as a possible torn groin (which always makes me shudder).

Just take a look at what's going on with the Mets only two weeks into the spring:

Jose Reyes (SS) ........ healthy
Luis Castillo (2B) ........ OUT -- knees
David Wright (3B) ........healthy
Carlos Beltran (CF) ..... OUT -- knees
Carlos Delgado (1B) .... OUT -- hip
Moises Alou (LF) .........OUT -- groin
Ryan Church (RF) ........OUT-- concussion
Brian Schneider (C) ......OUT -- hamstring
Johan Santana (LHP) ... pitching today, so presumably OK

Now let's look at the projected bench, too:
Ramon Castro (C) ........... healthy
Ruben Gotay (SS) .......... OUT -- ankle
Damion Easley (INF/OF) .. OUT -- ankle
Endy Chavez (OF) ........... OUT -- hamstring/ankle
Marlon Anderson ............. OUT -- bruised chest

Throw in El Duque who has yet to pitch this spring because he's old  and Pedro who has as much chance of making 30 starts as Carrot Top has of winning an Oscar and this is not looking good for the Mets right now. Though it is early and maybe they'll get through this early - but given their age and lack of depth I highly doubt it.

So I've been trying to be productive today, I really have. But it just isn't happening. Between the storm that kept me up all night and the Yankees being on TV right now, there's just no way I was going to get anything done. It was also pointed out to me yesterday that between football free agency, NHL trades, Brett Favre, and a host of other nonsense, I have been neglecting the New York Yankees. This must end and end it shall.

Before I get to the field I want to congratulate Hammerin' Hank for taking a nice little shot at ESPN and the Red Sox, calling Sox Nation a product of ESPN. And while everyone other than ESPN's Buster Olney seemed to take this in stride (Buster had a diatribe about how Hank is dillusional and needs to get over himself and how he (Buster) was a Dodger fan - me thinks he doth protest too much) I will say that the only way the Red Sox could be more popular with the empty suits at ESPN would be for John Henry to buy an Arena Football League Team and for Theo or Papsmear to appear on Dancing with the Stars. In any case, it is not worth anyone getting in a twist over, even the Sox are having some fun with it, sending Hank an honorary Sox Nation membership card.

As for on the field, this spring is more interesting than most recent ones, simply because there are so many unknowns. Over the last decade, spring training for the Yankees has been all about getting in shape and getting your timing down, maybe one or two spots were open at the end of the bench or the back of the rotation, but this year - even with most of the positions set, the players set in those spots are an unknown themselves. As I see it, here are the main questions.

1. The Kid Pitchers: I think Hughes is going to have a big year, not just a good year, but a big one. The question with him is going to be how much he pitches. Last year he threw just 70+ innings in the majors due to injuries, he threw another 37 in the minors giving him just over 100 total innings. The Yankees would like to limit him to about 150 innings in total, which is probably enough for him to get around 25 starts. Ian Kennedy threw about 50 more innings than Hughes last season and so the restrictions on him will be less, but - while I think he'll be good - I don't think Kennedy is nearly as good as Hughes. And if Mike Mussina stinks - which he probably will since he's at best a national league pitcher at this point - the two of them will be counted on a ton.

That brings us to Joba. While Joe Girardi has him working out as a starter right now, everyone is pretty sure that between having six pitchers and wanting to watch his innings Joba will start in the pen. If some of the other relievers (whom I'll touch on in a second) show that they can be trusted, Joba will head to the minors at some point to stretch out his arm and return as a starter for the stretch run. That leads me to think that the way the Yankees might get around the Hughes inning count is, if Phil is up near his limit, the Yankees might flip them, sending Hughes to the pen and replacing him in the rotation with Joba - or not. Only time will tell.

2. The Pen: Well alright, so Joba and Mo at the back of the pen are as good as anything that can be found on any other team - including Boston. People will say that Accardo and Ryan are just as good and I will say that some people need to get check ups from the neck up. I really like Ohlendorf and think that he will eventually be the 8th inning guy. Farnsworth - well - the best thing about Kyle these days is that he's a free agent after this season. I have no opinion on Hawkins right now other than that he's a low risk low reward signing. If he doesn't work out, the team is not so invested in him that they can't dump him. I'm a big fan of Jose Veras who has a lot of Armando Benitez in him, physically speaking anyway. He doesn't strike me as being as nuts as Benitez.

The Yankees have tons of other kids who are going to compete for roles in the pen at some point this season: Mark Melancon (considered the closer of the future) Humberto Sanchez, Steve Jackson, Edwar Ramirez, Heath Phillips, Scott Patterson, Chris Garcia, Jon Albaladejo, Jeff Karstens, Sean Henn, Chris Britton, Brian Bruney (who seems to have gone on one hell of a diet) Chase Wright - gone are the days of Aaron Small, Shawn Chacon, Scott Erickson and the rest of the retreads that the Yankees have had to run out over the years. Now the closest thing they have to a retread is Mike Mussina (are you picking up a theme about Mussina here?)

3. The old lefties: by the old lefties I mean Giambi and Matsui. Given the formation of the team right now, for them both to play Giambi will have to play first and Matsui will have to DH. Now, I know Giambi has been a first baseman and does have a glove, but in my opinion that glove is like Jessica Alba - better when counted on for decoration than anything else. Counting on him to play first is asking for two things, bad defensive play and a host of errors. That means either one of them sits or one of them gets moved. Of the two, Matsui is the one who is probably easier to move - though not by much considering that now that his iron man streak has broken he has gone the other way and always seems to be hurt. But wouldn't a team with no offense be interested in Matsui - the Giants for example? Would it kill San Fran to part with relief pitcher Jonathan Sanchez for Matsui? I mean for God's sake they have Benji Molina batting cleanup.

Now if Giambi can be moved to DH, the Yankees would then have to pick from between Shelley Duncan, Wilson Betemit, Jason Lane, and Morgan Ensberg as to who would be their first baseman. If it were my call, I would use Betemit, I really like his bat - though I would suggest that he give up batting right handed, he stinks at it. Platoon Shelley Duncan from that side and roll with it.

All of these measures are stop gaps. I mean the Yankees are shedding about 90 million in payroll after this season in the form of Giambi, Pavano, Farnsworth, Abreu, Mussina, and Pettitte and if you don't think that money is ear-marked for the likes of Mark Teixeira (and CC Sabathia) then you haven't been paying attention.

Interestingly enough, if Giambi doesn't get hurt - which is asking a lot - he looks poised to have a pretty good walk year. He's in fairly good shape (by Giambi standards) and seems to be hitting the ball pretty well early this spring.

4. The Bronx Runners?: Joe Girardi wants to turn the Yankees from the station to station team they had become into a more aggressive team on the basepaths. They have some guys with speed, but also have Posada and Giambi (the latter of which runs like Fred Flintstone). So can this team turn into the running gunning team Girardi wants them to be?

Alright, that's it for now. I'm legitimately afraid that Carlos Gomez playing CF for the Twins is going to eventually throw a ball so wildly it comes through my television.