The Yankees lost 6-2 to the Tigers today in Lakeland but all of the news from the game was positive.

CC Sabathia piched two scoreless innings, Mark Teixeira hit an RBI double and Mark Prior made it through an inning without giving up a run or getting injured. Also, Manny Banuelos showed off his curveball and struck out both Brandon Inge and Jhonny Peralta en route to a 1-2-3 inning. Not too shabby.

Joe Girardi was happy with CC’s performance:

“Really good,” Joe Girardi said. “Strikes down. Changeup. (We were) pleased. He went out and just did his business, kind of what we expect from CC and get used to.”

CC Sabathia was happy with CC’s performance:

“Coming out of the bullpen and being fresh for the first inning, and handling the amount of work and things in between has gotten a lot easier.”

Tomorrow the Yankees travel to Bradenton to visit the Pittsburgh Pirates. It will be their third straight road game. Phil Hughes will make his first start of Spring Training.

Yankees
Jeter SS
Cano 2B
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Jones RF
Martin DH
Cervelli C
Maxwell LF
Mesa CF

Sabathia P

Tigers
Jackson CF
Raburn LF
Ordonez RF
Cabrera DH
Martinez 1B
Peralta SS
Inge 3B
Sizemore 2B
Avila C

Verlander P

The game is not being televised.

The Yankees won the rematch with their hated rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies*, 7-3 this afternoon at Brighthouse Field in Clearwater.

Highlights included:
1) Ivan Nova threw 2 strong innings (2Ks, four groundouts)
2) Dellin Betances also impressed people with some great movement and high heat (97 MPH fastball)
3) Another home run for Jorge Vazquez
4) Curtis Granderson also hit a home run
5) Brett Gardner, Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher all hit doubles in the 4 run 6th inning

The only lowlight:
Michael Kay referring to Brandon Laird first as Gerald Laird then as Brendan Laird. Oy. Not as bad as Suzyn Waldman still calling Joe Girardi “Joe Torre”. It was understandable in Feb 2008, in Feb 2011? Not so much…

Tomorrow, the Yankees travel to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland to face the Detroit Tigers. CC Sabathia is scheduled to start. Mark Prior is also scheduled to pitch and Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixiera and Robinson Cano are among the starters making the trip.

Other notes: Ronnie Belliard who was scratched from today’s game with a calf injury, will now be sidelined for more than a week (Thanks to Bryan Hoch for that info)

*that was sarcasm

Yankees:
Gardner LF
Swisher RF
Granderson CF
Posada DH
Chavez 1b
Montero C
Nunez 2b
Laird 3b
Pena SS

Nova P

Philliies:
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Ibanez LF
Howard 1B
Polanco 3B
Brown RF
Francisco DH
Ruiz C
Valdez 2B

Blanton P

I’m kidding.

Some positives from today’s 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies:

1) Alex Rodriguez’s swing looked great and he hit the ball well in his two at bats.
2) Bartolo Colon was hitting 90-93 on the gun. He was fine. Not great, not terrible.
3) Joba Chamberlain who tweaked his mechanics was hitting 93-94. He had looked good out there and he’s not as heavy as people made him out to be (Note: that could be because he followed Colon on the mound and Colon could make anyone look thin)
4) David Robertson also pitched well.
5) Mark Teixeira was able to hit a stand up triple after being hit by a pitch on the toe in a previous at bat. The last thing Yankee fans need to see is Mark Teixeira limping of the field in Spring Training.

Joe Girardi was just happy no one got hurt. I agree with him. In my opinion, the Yankees can get a goose egg for the entire Spring Training schedule and I wouldn’t care, as long as everyone stays healthy.

The next game is tomorrow in Clearwater at the Phillies Spring Training complex at 1:05p on YES. For any out of town Yankee fans, MLB Network will be showing the game on a tape delay.

Baseball is back!

Phillies:
Orr 2B
Gload DH
Ibanez LF
Howard 1B
Francisco CF
Brown RF
Larish 3B
Schneider C
Valdez SS

Hamels P

Yankees:
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada DH
Granderson CF
Cervelli C
Gardner LF

Colon P
Also scheduled to pitch:
Chamberlain, Robertson, Phelps, Noesi & Wordekemper.

Per Marc Carig of the Newark Star Ledger:
Position players coming off the bench are Jorge Vazquez, Kevin Russo, Eduardo Nunez, Brandon Laird, Colin Curtis, Greg Golson, Justin Maxwell and Andruw Jones.

The game is being broadcast on YES Network and WCBS 880 at 1:05pm

According to reports, Joe Torre will be named Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations. Torre will be working under Commissioner Bud Selig and replacing Jimmie Lee Solomon, who will now be MLB’s executive vice president for baseball development.

The announcement is expecting to be made tomorrow by Commissioner Selig at 1:15pm at the new Salt River Fields ballpark, the spring facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

So word is that former Yankee Mike Kekich is trying to block a movie based on the wife swapping scandal that shocked baseball fans in the 1970s. In 1972, Kekich and fellow pitcher Fritz Peterson swapped wifes, kids and pets. This event took “key parties” to a whole new level.

Anyway, Kekich is not too thrilled that Ben Affleck, his brother Casey and good friend Matt Damon want to go forward with the project. The Affleck brothers are writing the script and Damon may direct the film.

As reported in the New York Post:

“Kekich is panic-stricken. He has moved away and has a new identity,” a source told the Post. “He is freaked out that those working on the movie found out where he is. He isn’t too keen on having the scandal dredged up again after all this time. Other Yankees from that time have also been really unhelpful with facts and details of what happened. They are stonewalling.”

I don’t blame him. As tantalizing as the story may be, this event happened nearly forty years ago and Kekich doesn’t want to have revisit those days. There’s nothing wrong with that. He’s moved on. Peterson is actually still married to Kekich’s ex wife Susan.

It also doesn’t help that Affleck is a known Yankee hater. He once called all Yankee fans evil in an interview with Kevin Smith back in early 2004 when promoting their movie “Jersey Girl” and recently Affleck told MTV:

“I’ve come to have a little more respect for the Yankees. There are some of those guys … that look like good guys … But as an institution? Disdain. Contempt.“

I won’t deny that Ben Affleck has talent. I loved “Good WIll Hunting” which he co-wrote and starred in with Damon and I’ve heard great things about “The Town” but I do not want someone with such disdain for my favorite team to write a script about them, no matter what the film is about.

A re-posted blurb from ESPN New York’s Wallace Matthews:

Joe Girardi has promised to reveal the name of the starting pitcher for the first pre-season game of the spring this Saturday against the Phillies. Educated guess: It will be a guy who goes by initials instead of a first name.

For what it’s worth, I assume the same.

Derek Jeter ss
Nick Swisher rf
Mark Teixeira 1b
Alex Rodriguez 3b
Robinson Cano 2b
Jorge Posada dh
Curtis Granderson cf
Francisco Cervelli c
Brett Gardner lf

During the 2010 season, the New York Yankees lineup looked something similar to that with some variations — a little Lance Berkman here, some Marcus Thames there, sometimes a smidge of Ramiro Pena. You get the idea.

But Marc Carig of the Star Ledger writes that Joe Girardi may be looking to switch around the lineup somewhat. Though he evades the issue — “I don’t really want to get into it,” Girardi said as position players reported to camp. “But we’re not really sure exactly how our lineup is going to break.” — I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.

Last year, writers were also talking about what the optimal Yankees lineup looks like, much to the chagrin of Yankee fans who believe El Capitan should always and forever be first and foremost, the Lead Off Man.

I agree: I don’t think Jeter should lead off.

Before you vent your anger in the comments section, fans, finish reading. Below is my optimal lineup for 2011, based on who’s at the top of the Yankees’ depth chart for the coming season:

Brett Gardner lf
Robinson Cano 2b
Mark Teixeira 1b
Alex Rodriguez 3b
Nick Swisher rf
Curtis Granderson cf
Derek Jeter ss
Jorge Posada dh
Russell Martin c

Done seeing red? Breathe. OK. Here’s what I figure.

Brett Gardner gets on base. That’s what he does. Last season, dude had a team-leading .383 OBP, eighth in the AL. He steals bases — he was only caught nine times last year — and he drew 79 walks.

The guy gets on base. That’s what you want from your No. 1 spot. Sure, you want everyone to have the ability to get to first, and the leadoff spot is only guaranteed to leadoff one inning the whole game (the first, duh, follow me here) but that’s one hell of a guaranteed first batter.

That sets up your No. 2 hitter, Robinson Cano dontcha know, who led the Yankees in OPS (.914, wow) last year. He gets on base, and he hits big.

I keep Teixeira and A-Rod at third and fourth in the lineup. Both have proven themselves in… NO I refuse to say clutch situations, nuh-uh, je refuse. Both look comfortable in those positions and have shown plate discipline, creating situations where they can score runners on base and in scoring position. (A-Rod is .283/.355/.500 with RISP, Tex is .309/.436/.585.)

Swish started most of last year at the No. 2 slot, so most of his best numbers come at that point,  because he has the greatest sample size there. Next best is fourth — small sample size. But in the No. 5 spot he can put that .647 SLG from last season to use. Someone that can get on base as the leadoff man in an inning, perhaps, but also once that could potentially clear the bases with two outs.

Yes, Something-Sort-Of-Granderson still beats out Jeter in the lineup. By the time Opening Day rolls around, he’ll be newly 30, and he has plenty of great years still left in him. Sure he was eighth in BA on the team — yeah, check out the guys he was behind — but what I also like is he provides some oomph to the bottom half of the lineup.  He was ninth last season in the AL in power-speed # with 16.0, great for a lineup that still has to have the elder Jorge as DH.

It may not be wise, I’ll admit, to immediately drop Jeter to sixth or so, but it would be silly of the Yankees to continue to believe he can be relied upon as the leadoff spot as though he were still his 1996 or so self. Perhaps try him out at No. 2, shift the whole lineup I have down a notch, and see how that position suits him.

It may be more of an incentive for either player: Gardner works harder to get on base, Jeter works harder to advance the runner. Perhaps switch Teixeira and A-Rod at that point to make sure Rodriguez is still the cleanup man. I love him as No. 4. Great, productive place for him to be right now.

I just know that the Yankees should not continue to use the outdated lineup. That would be the team acknowledging that it has not paid attention to how each player has performed in the past and how they could potentially project for the future.

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