We're going to leave the player projections open for a little longer, so if you have any interest, please post yours! Even if it's just for one player. Whoever you feel like projecting, please do. Thanks.

Full list of players here.

As today is opening day, I thought I'd go ahead and upload the new YanksBlog.com header. As Sheffield is playing for the Tigers, it was time for him to go. In his place is Andy Pettitte and to the left (right above the o), we've added Robinson Cano.

As I write this, we're down 5-3 to the Devil Rays. Let's see if this changes our luck...

Week one in the Yankees Bloggers League is underway. I plan to post every week with the previous week's results and the next week's matchups for the YanksBlog.com Bloggers that are in the league. This week:

Patrick vs. Ben a.k.a. Regulus Black.

Seamus vs. Jennifer of NoSenseWorrying.com.

James vs. Joseph of River Ave. Blues.

Update: This was a hoax.

David Pinto over at Baseball Musings has a note up about a possible injury to Curt Schilling


For all I know, this could be a very late April Fool's Day joke but it's still interesting. I never wish injuries to anyone but if Schilling was indeed hurt (even for a little while), that would definitely change the landscape of the AL East, no? Still, I would be surprised if he's really hurt, maybe a slight bruise or something.

Since everyone else seems to be doing it, I figured I'd throw my 2 cents in as well. It's actually interesting - I've seen a lot of variation this year. A good amount of people are predicting Yanks, Red Sox, Blue Jays while others have had the exact opposite order. I've also seen a number of people predicting Red Sox, Blue Jays and then the Yankees. I remember even seeing one prediction where the Yankees would win 86 games and finish in third, well behind the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Well, as they say, that's why the games are played on the field, right? In any case, here's where I think things will stand 6 months from now in the AL East:

New York: 95 - 67
Boston: 88 - 74
Toronto: 88 - 74
Baltimore: 77 - 85
Tampa Bay: 69 - 93

Sweeney Murti is a clever man and has come up with a list of things that have happened in between Carl Pavano's last start and his next one.:


The whole thing is actually pretty amusing so go check it out if you get a chance.

Can you feel it? Opening day is days away and the 2007 season will soon be upon us...and it's about time!

To get you a little more amped up, here are some links from around the web to get you up to speed. First off, the roster is set.


I'm glad that Villone is not on the team. He might be able to make it back at some point but he just looked awful in spring training and the Yankees just had a better option. Villone was signed to a minor league deal so he could either choose to become a free agent or take a demotion to the minors and try to work out his stuff there. At this point, either of those scenarios seem plausible.

Tyler Kepner of the NY Times checks in with the news that Phelps has been so good that he's got Joe thinking using him as the left-hander portion of a platoon with Doug Mientkiewicz. The following from the post also struck me as worth noting:


Andy seems like such a stand-up guy and after all the family issues that he had to go through last year and this spring, I hope that he gets picked up by another team and he gets to show what he can do. I wish him and his family nothing but the best.

Finally, SG, of RLYW fame, guests over at The Hardball Times and looks at the most important 5 questions facing the Yankees as they start the season while EJ Fagan over at Pending Pinstripes writes a preview of this years Trenton Thunder (AA) team.

Luis Vizcaino
Age: 32 Years Old (Turns 33 in August).

Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.

SEASON	Team	W	L	ERA	G	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
2004	Brewers	4	4	3.75	73	1	4	72.0	61	35	30	12	24	63
2005	White Sox	6	5	3.73	65	0	3	70.0	74	30	29	8	29	43
2006	Diamondbacks	4	6	3.58	70	0	2	65.1	51	26	26	8	29	72
2007	Bill James	4	4	3.65	67	0		69.0	62			9	26	63
2007	CHONE			3.84				68.0	63	32	29	9	27	57
2007	Marcel	4	5	4.15		0		65.0	62	31	30	8	27	54
2007	ZiPS	4	6	4.77	68			66.0	66	38	35	9	28	56

SEASON	Team	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	AVG	WHIP	BABIP	LOB%	FIP
2004	Brewers	7.88	3.00	2.63	1.50	.231	1.18	.259	73.7 %	4.66
2005	White Sox	5.53	3.73	1.48	1.03	.273	1.47	.299	80.0 %	4.79
2006	Diamondbacks	9.92	3.99	2.48	1.10	.217	1.22	.277	79.7 %	4.10
2007	Bill James	8.22	3.39	2.42	1.17	.242	1.28	.287		4.29
2007	CHONE	7.54	3.57	2.11	1.19	.247	1.32	.286	75.9 %	4.57
2007	Marcel	7.48	3.74	2.00	1.11	.253	1.37	.295	75.5 %	4.52
2007	ZiPS	7.64	3.82	2.00	1.23	.262	1.42	.305	68.8 %	4.55

Outlook: I might have been the only person in northeast who was genuinely excited about Luis Vizcaino's acquisition. I am ecstatic because Luis should provide Torre with something he sorely lacked last year, a third solid option in the bullpen. Yes, I know Joe had Villone last year but he didn't use him in the first half and overused him in the second. Now, if Torre uses him, Luis should be a consistent source of quality innings (5 years of 60+ IP, 4 with ERA+ of over 110) and the addition of that has a pretty striking impact. Farnsworth and Proctor can then be used less and with his splits, it reduces the need for a second lefty (just in case Henn doesn't work out). It's actually pretty interesting - he's a righty that's good against both but especially good against lefties (.163/.281/.288/.569 last year and .214/.305/.362/.667 over the last three). He's the bizzaro Mike Stanton!

Also, over the course of the last two years, he's pitched in hitters parks and did a decent job there so the move to Yankee Stadium should help mitigate his move from the NL to the AL. Finally, another interesting thing to notice is Luis' GB ratio. Now, I don't know what he changed up in 2005 but he's got his groundball groove going now (42.8% in 2005, 45.1% in 2006) so that could work out well with an improved Yankee infield.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

G	Innings	W	L	BB	K	SV	BlSv	ERA

Brian Bruney
Age: 25 Years Old (Turns 26 in February).

Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.

SEASON	Team	W	L	ERA	G	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
2004	D-Backs	3	4	4.31	30	0	1	31.1	20	16	15	2	27	34
2005	D-Backs	1	3	7.43	47	12	4	46.0	56	39	38	6	35	51
2006	R Yankees	0	0	4.91	3	0		3.2	1	2	2	0	3	5
2006	AAA D-Backs	0	1	33.75	4	0		2.2	10	12	10	2	4	4
2006	AAA Yanks	1	1	3.14	11	3		14.1	10	6	5	2	8	22
2006	Yankees	1	1	0.87	19	0	0	20.2	14	2	2	1	15	25
2007	Bill James	4	3	4.19	49	0		58.0	50			5	38	63
2007	CHONE			4.20				45.0	40	23	21	6	29	50
2007	Marcel	2	2	4.50		3		40.0	40	22	20	4	20	36
2007	ZiPS	3	3	4.75	48			53.0	47	31	28	5	35	51

SEASON	Team	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	AVG	WHIP	BABIP	LOB%	FIP
2004	D-Backs	9.77	7.76	1.26	0.57	.185	1.50	.249	70.8 %	4.54
2005	D-Backs	9.98	6.85	1.46	1.17	.302	1.98	.388	65.1 %	5.29
2006	R Yanks	12.27	7.36	1.67	0.00	.088	1.09	.158	66.7 %	4.56
2006	AAA D-Backs	13.50	13.50	1.00	6.75	.571	5.25	.694	17.9 %	14.45
2006	AAA Yanks	13.81	5.02	2.75	1.26	.198	1.26	.303	79.0 %	3.62
2006	Yankees	10.89	6.53	1.67	0.44	.194	1.40	.281	97.9 %	3.73
2007	Bill James	9.78	5.90	1.66	0.78	.234	1.52	.309		4.27
2007	CHONE	10.00	5.80	1.72	1.20	.240	1.53	.307	76.7 %	4.78
2007	Marcel	8.10	4.50	1.80	0.90	.262	1.50	.319	70.9 %	4.35
2007	ZiPS	8.66	5.94	1.46	0.85	.239	1.55	.299	68.0 %	4.48

Outlook: When Bruney was DFA'd by the Diamondbacks, he was coming off a terrible 2005 (7.43 ERA with 51 Ks and 35 BBs in 46 IP) that he had followed up with a horrendous 4 games in AA Tuscon (2.2 IP, 4 BBs, 10 Hits, 2 HRs and 12 runs allowed). At that point, the D'backs felt he was done and designated him for assignment. Bruney then signed with the Yankees and after a few innings in AAA Columbus (22Ks and 8 BBs in 14 IP - see the recurring theme?), he was called up in August. In his first game up, he struck out the three batters he faced and didn't really slow down from that pace, striking out 25 guys over 20.6 innings with a 0.87 ERA.

Do I think that Bruney can replicate what he did last year? In a word...no. I really don't think there's a lot of people out there who would expect the same type of dominance he presented last year. He's got a good fastball (which people have said that he relies too much on) and seems to pitch to the edges of the strike zone (leading to the high number of walks). However, I do think that Brian can be effective. I mean, over his 98 innings of major-league work, he has a 10.10 K per 9 so he can obviously get guys out. However, he also has a 7.07 BB per 9 and a 1.70 WHIP over that time period and that's just not going to get it done. Name one pitcher that has had success with a walk rate that high - it's impossible. Still, with that fastball/slider combo, if he was able to bring down (and keep down) the walk rate to a more manageable 5 BB per 9 (what he did consistently in AAA) and then go from there, then we would be looking at someone who could really help the pen. Actually, we'd basically be looking at a younger, wilder Kyle Farnsworth and that ain't too bad for someone the Yankees picked up for a few pennies.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

G	Innings	W	L	BB	K	SV	BlSv	ERA

Steve Swindal's chances of succeeding George Steinbrenner as Yankees' principal owner took a major hit as his wife (and daughter of the boss), Jennifer, has filed for divorce.

In a related story, I will be sending in my wedding proposal to Jennifer shortly.