On Mike Francesca's show today, Joe Girardi hinted that there would be changes to the Yankees roster, which is due to Major League Baseball by 10am tomorrow. He wouldn't publicly announce what the changes would be, but when Francesca mentioned that Eric Hinske would probably replace Freddy Guzman due to the need for additional hitters against a National League team, he agreed that change makes sense.
Francesca also asked him about carrying three catchers and Girardi said that if they wanted to add another pitcher for the next round, that is something they would have to look at. That does not bode well for Francisco Cervelli, who would likely be off the roster, but is a good sign for Brian Bruney, who probably would take his place. Having the three catchers has worked well for Girardi since he's been able to pinch hit Jorge Posada for Jose Molina, who has caught AJ Burnett in all his starts, without worrying about a catcher getting hurt. But that doesn't mean Posada will be catching AJ in Game 2. "The AJ/Molina thing has worked pretty well," Girardi said.
An interesting twist (one that Francesca deserves credit for getting out of Girardi) is that it's not impossible that Yankee fans could see Hideki Matsui in the outfield when the World Series moves to Philadelphia. It's been presumed that Matsui's knees are too weak to play the outfield, particularly since he only pinch hit when the Yanks played nine straight games in NL parks during interleague play in the regular season. But Girardi said he could foresee a situation where Matsui goes into the outfield later in the game as part of a double switch.
Girardi also said it's not a foregone conclusion that he will go with a 3-man rotation in the World Series because that would mean all the pitchers starting on only three days rest. He said he would wait to see how the series develops and decide if Chad Gaudin gets a start.
Thanks to Keith Allison via Wikipedia for the photo.
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