The Yankees officially chose the longer of the two division series, so they will start on Wednesday at 6:07 p.m. against the winner of the Tigers/Twins game going on right now.
According to Tyler Kepner, the Yankees will throw out CC Sabathia in Game 1, A.J. Burnett in Game 2 and Andy Pettitte in Game 3. Joe Girardi also announced that Jose Molina — not Jorge Posada — will catch Burnett, and that Hideki Matsui — not Posada — will be the DH in Game 2.
The good news is, Girardi hasn’t made any bonehead decisions so far. However, the rest of the roster has not been announced. Here is Kepner’s best guess:
Pitchers (10) – Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Chad Gaudin, Alfredo Aceves, Dave Robertson, Phil Coke, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera.
Position players (14) – Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Matusi, Robinson Cano, Posada, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jerry Hairston Jr., Molina, Francisco Cervelli.
The final spot, again, would come down to Marte (if Twins) or Guzman (if Tigers).
Here is Mark Feinsand’s predicted roster post. And here is Erik Boland’s. Marc Carig has the inside scoop on a few of the borderline players.
What’s your roster? Rotation? Does Joba Chamberlain deserve a spot? How about Chad Gaudin? Freddy Guzman?
