Position Battles Highlight Lack of Depth

When you're the New York Yankees, Spring Training isn't really about any position battles. It's not about watching your starting second baseman and starting right fielder retire as the Devil Rays had to do this week. It's really about tuning up for a tough season with high expections. That's not to say that there aren't position battles in Tampa right now. There are, and the disturbing thing about the Yankees' position fights is just how much they highlight the lack of outfield depth on this team.

For their starting three, the Yanks have 36-year-old Gary Sheffield in right, 36-year-old Bernie Williams and his aching knees, back, and shoulders in center, and the young Hideki Matsui who will turn 31 on my mom's birthday. That's hardly a paragon of youth, and the one falling apart the most is expected to anchor the team up the middle.

The situation on the bench is bleak as well. The Yankees' fourth outfielder is, get this, Ruben Sierra. Ten years ago, Sierra would have been a great back-up outfielder, but now that he's 39, his days of playing the field effectively are just about over. So that leaves the Yankees with a choice to make: Who's going to back up Bernie Williams?

Will it be Damian Rolls who can lay claim to a .125 Spring Training batting average and a career line of .248/.291/.337? Will it be Doug Glanville who hasn't had an OBP over .300 since the waning days of the Clinton Presidency? Or will it be Bubba Crosby, a young lefty who hit 2 home runs quickly last year and then stopped hitting altogether?

Strangely, it seems that Joe Torre may be leaning toward Damian Rolls because he can play the infield positions as well as second base. Personally, I would choose Crosby. You can't go too wrong with youth. But even Bubba is not a very good solution, and therein lies the problem.

It's exceedingly likely that the Yanks will need a capable back-up centerfielder this year much like they needed Kenny Lofton last year. Bernie's body cannot withstand the physical toll of a 162-game season; he could barely take Spring Training. So as the Yankees' depleted farm system has turned up empty yet again, the back-up outfielder may be some guy who gets on base less than 30 percent of the time. An injury would be devastating.