Tampa – As the clock is engraved at Yankee Camp, the first day's roster begins to take shape.
Carlos Carrasco will be that. Clark Schmidt and Ian Hamilton don't. Giancarlo Stanton is not yet close to joining it, but it may include players or two currently in another camp.
“Work in progress,” general manager Brian Cashman said Saturday when asked about the Yankees' spring. “The roster is constantly changing, so this year is a different roster than the end of last year. We're learning a lot about new people. We've got some of the previous people injured. I think we have a talented team.
“I think we have a good team and we look forward to testing it when it rolls out on March 27th.”
There is a takeaway from Cashman's organizational status before the Yankees break the camp.
– The rotation solidified on Saturday as Cashman confirmed that the club would add Carrasco to the roster (if he didn't add him, he might have been able to opt out of his contract on Saturday). This means Will Warren will be the fifth starter who will make at least a few turns after putting together a strong camp like Carrasco.
Schmidt, who was late on the back early in camp and then later on shoulder fatigue, threw 32 pitches in live batting practice on Thursday, but needs more time to build a pitch count before joining the Yankees.
“He's not yet in spring training so he's not going to start with us on time,” Cashman said. “But he's certainly going in the right direction.”
– The biggest need the Yankees have is for right-handed bats. As configured, they are set to better from the left side carry at least six left-handed batters and two more switch hitters. If Dom Smith were right-handed, he might have had to opt out like he did on Friday (The Yankees have 72 hours to add him to the roster, but it seems unlikely due to the need for a right-handed balance).
“I feel like I'll be happy if I can line up some options for my manager,” Cashman said. “I think there's a few options out there at camp here, and if your choices at camp are better than what you can trade with than what you can trade, it depends on whether you're comfortable enough to give it what you need to get it to get it.”
Cashman reverberated by Aaron Boone's right-handed hit utility man Pablo Reyes had caught the attention and gave non-roster invitees the opportunity to break camp on the bench. Oswald Peraza, which is out of the minor league option, also hits right-handed, but with a glove rather than a bat.
Reyes and Peraza could both be platoon options with Oswald Cabrera on 3 base, but it's not surprising that the Yankees add another player to their right-handed mix.
“With players being released for free, we definitely keep our phone lines open, whether the agents make a call or not because they don't make other clubs or have no trade conversations with my counterparts,” Cashman said. “I don't think there's a lot of heavy lifting happening in that area, but if those margins are present, we're certainly trying to improve the margins.”
– Part of the reason the Yankees need right-handed hit help is because Giancarlo Stanton remains out indefinitely with the tennis elbow on both arms. Cashman said the veteran DH who received a three-round PRP injection during camp has not yet been in baseball. He hasn't waved bats since January.
“We certainly hope that we can get him back to the line, but that's not in the short term,” Cashman said.
– On the same boat as Schmidt, Ian Hamilton missed time to deal with the infection early in the camp. That delayed his Grapefruitreug debut until Wednesday, so the Yankees plan to have him stay in Tampa and build up their stamina before joining the bullpen.
This will cause three bullpens to spot for the glove. One could be filled by Yoendrys Gómez.
The other can go to the left-handed Brent Headlique, which offers some length, but other candidates include Yerry de Los Santos (Headlique is already on the roster of 40) and Willking Rodriguez.
