by Marc Carig
TAMPA, Fla. -- Random notes to lead off a Monday morning:
Since we've been have some fun projecting the 25-man roster, I wanted to pass along another small development. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he considers Phil Coke in competition for a bullpen job, though not in a long relief role.
"He's half a long guy in my mind, where we can use him short or we can use him for a couple of innings," said Girardi, after Coke allowed a run in three relief innings in Sunday's 5-1 victory against the Minnesota Twins.The long relief battle seems to be playing out with Dan Giese, Alfredo Aceves and Brett Tomko as the main contenders.
One of those three may even pick up a start, and another precious chance to impress, because as the Daily News reports, it would be way too scary to have Chien-Ming Wang hit during his next scheduled start on Wednesday, against the Houston Astros. That's right, the same team Wang was playing when he injured his right foot running the bases last June. Creepy.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said all the right things when asked about the World Baseball Classic, shortly after announcing that MRIs for Robinson Cano and Damaso Marte would be pushed back to Monday. Of course, Cano (right shoulder) and Marte (left shoulder), needed the exams after participating in the classic, though to be fair Cano felt tightness before leaving for the tournament but neglected to tell anybody.
"All this is for the greater good, and the greater good is growing our game internationally," Cashman said while acknowledging the injury risks to players.
Derek Jeter is still playing for Team USA, which staved off elimination by beating the Netherlands 9-3 on Monday. But I get the feeling that Girardi was pulling for another upset by the Dutch that would send his star shortstop back to Tampa. When asked who he was rooting for, Girardi responded with a coy "no comment."
Jeter is so far unscathed, which can't be said of some of his national teammates, who have suffered another round of boo-boos.
For the record, here's a rundown of Sunday's camp cuts. The Yankees optioned pitchers Ian Kennedy (Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) and Christian Garcia while Jesus Montero, Kyle Anson, Kevin Russo and Mark Melancon were reassigned to minor league camp.
Cashman praised Kennedy on his way out the door, saying the pitcher seems on track to get past his awful struggles of a year ago.
"I just know that he went home and processed what took place last year, the first time failing ever in his career," Cashman said. "He went to winter ball, made some adjustments, came out of winter ball with confidence, came into camp with a great frame of mind. And I think he's leaving and headed over to Scranton with a great frame of mind as well."
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