note: this post was to be posted before game time, but was held up due to a black out resulting from a sudden thunderstorm.

Normally at the start of a new series I post the roster of the team the Yankees are about to face, but after the last couple of days, I thought it might be helpful to post the Yankees current roster.

New York Yankees

2005 Record: 39-38 (.506)
2005 Pythagorean Record: 41-36 (.532)

Manager: Joe Torre
General Manager: Brian Cashman

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Yankee Stadium (96/97)

Current Roster

1B – Jason Giambi
2B – Robinson Cano
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Alex Rodriguez
C - Jorge Posada
RF – Gary Sheffield
CF – Tony Womack
LF – Hideki Matsui
DH – Ruben Sierra

Bench:

S – Bernie Williams (OF)
L - Tino Martinez (1B)
R - Russ Johnson (IF)
L – Bubba Crosby (OF)
R – John Flaherty (C)

Rotation:

L – Randy Johnson
R – Mike Mussina
R – Carl Pavano
R - Chien-Ming Wang

Bullpen:

R – Mariano Rivera
R – Tom Gordon
R – Tanyon Sturtze
L - Buddy Groom
R - Jason Anderson
R - Scott Proctor
L - Wayne Franklin

DL:

R – Kevin Brown
R – Rey Sanchez (IF)
R – Felix Hernandez
R – Jaret Wright (60-day)

As for who's replaced whom, by demoting Kevin Reese in favor of righty Jason Anderson on Wednesday, then designating Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton for assignment yesterday in favor of Bubba Crosby and lefty Wayne Franklin, you get this:

Bubba Crosby replaces Kevin Reese
Jason Anderson replaces Paul Quantrill
Wayne Franklin replaces Mike Stanton

Scott Proctor, meanwhile, replaced Sean Henn, who replaced Kevin Brown, which puts the Yankees a starter short. Earlier this week, Joe Torre had expressed hope that Brown would be able to take the fifth starter's turn against the Orioles on Tuesday, but Brian Cashman has recently quashed that notion. In that linked Star-Ledger article, Dan Graziano speculates as to whom the Yankees might use in Brown's spot on Tuesday.

Brad Voyles, who pitched Wednesday night for Triple-A Columbus, or Aaron Small, who's scheduled to pitch tonight for Columbus, would be the top candidates. Small would be on short rest, but if he only pitches a few innings (or not at all) tonight, he could be ready to go.

Lefty Sean Henn, who pitched June 25 against the Mets, is not a candidate, because he will not have been in the minors for 10 full days and therefore cannot yet be recalled. Lefty Alex Graman, who made two starts for the Yankees in 2004, is not a candidate because he was recently converted to a relief pitcher in Columbus.

Toward the end of Mike & the Mad Dog's 24-hour marathon today, Cashman said that Small has been their prefered choice for emergency starts all season, but a groin injury he suffered earlier in the year forced them to go to Henn, who you'll recall started the year in double-A Trenton. That would suggest Small for Tuesday, but another option Graziano doesn't mention is Wayne Franklin.

Despite leading the International League in appearances pitching exclusively out of the bullpen, the 31-year-old Franklin spent all of 2002 and 2003 as a starter (68 starts in 72 appearances between AAA and the majors), and started five more games between Fresno and San Francisco in the Giants' organization last year, despite getting most of his work out of the San Francisco bullpen. So while the promotion of Franklin might be seen as an attempt to have a second lefty in the pen to replace Stanton, it can also been seen as a move to add a long man and spot starter.

Of course none of this really changes the fact that Franklin has proven his inability to get hitters out at the major league level. In 302 2/3 major league innings for the Astros, Brewers and most recently the Giants (who released him during spring training of this year), Franklin has posted a 5.47 ERA (80 ERA+), a 1.54 WHIP, walked 4.58 men per nine innings and surrendered 54 homers, 1.61 for every nine innings pitched.

It's my hope that the Yankees have brought up Franklin with the intention of demoting him in favor of Tuesday's eventual starter, who, assuming he's not Kevin Brown, will then be sent back to Columbus in favor of a more deserving reliever, be it the Godot-like Colter Bean or the newly LOOGY-fied Alex Graman.

As for the moves in general, well, this is only the sort of thing that many of us in the blogging community have been calling for for at least two years. Overstocking the bullpen with high-priced veterans on the downsides of their careers when your minor league system has a handful of youngsters who could do equally poorly or better for one tenth of the salary is exactly the sort of thing that has lead this team to their current state as something of a bloated corpse floating on the surface of respectibility thanks to the air pockets of talent trapped inside.

The Yankees have now designated for assignment three such veterans (remember, Steve Karsay was the man who was dumped to clear roster space for Robinson Cano back in early May). Here are their total salaries for 2005 and beyond that the Yankees have been forced to swallow:

Karsay: $6.5 million*
Stanton: $4 million
Quantrill: $3.4 million*

Total: $13.4 million

*includes buyout of a 2006 option

Don't even get me started on what the Yankees could have done with that money this off-season. Meanwhile, Buddy Groom, a non-roster invitee, is making $800,000 this year and Tanyon Sturtze, who has replaced Quantrill in the Yankees Big Three, is earning just $850,000. As for Anderson, Proctor, Bean et al., they're making the major league minimum of $320,000. At that rate the Yankees could pay Groom, Sturtze and thirty six rookie relievers and still have money left over from the $13.4 million they've wasted on Karsay, Stanton and Quantrill in 2005 and beyond.

As for the call-ups, we've already discussed the fact that Anderson was the right choice, though at this point I'd prefer Reese over Crosby, but the most important thing is that the Yankees may have finally seen the error of their ways. Stay tuned . . .

As for the Tigers, rumor has it that they plan to activate Magglio Ordoñez for tonight's game (with Alexis Gomez or Jason Smith being the most likely to lose their spot), though nothing had happened as of post time. Meanwhile, thanks to Robinson Cano I guess I can't complain about Placido Polanco any more, but when you watch him this series, just remember that the Yankees chose Tony Womack over this guy. As if you needed any more proof that this team is getting what it deserves this year.

Detroit Tigers

2005 Record: 36-39 (.480)
2005 Pythagorean Record: 38-37 (.509)

Manager: Alan Trammell
General Manager: Dave Dombrowski

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Comerica Park (96/97)

Who has replaced whom?

Placido Polanco replaces Ramon Martinez (Phillies)
Chris Spurling replaces Carlos Peña (minors)
Alexis Gomez replaces Marcus Thames (minors)
Troy Percival (DL) replaces Ugueth Urbina (Phillies)
Sean Douglass replaces Wilfredo Ledezma (minors)
Fernando Rodney replaces Matt Ginter (minors)

Current Roster:

1B – Chris Shelton
2B – Placido Polanco
SS – Carlos Guillen
3B – Brandon Inge
C – Ivan Rodriguez
RF – Craig Monroe
CF – Nook Logan
LF – Rondell White
DH – Dmitri Young

Bench:

R - Omar Infante (IF)
L – Jason Smith (IF)
L - Alexis Gomez (OF)
R – Vance Wilson (C)

Rotation:

R - Jeremy Bonderman
L – Nate Robertson
R – Jason Johnson
L – Mike Maroth
R - Sean Douglass

Bullpen:

R – Troy Percival
R – Kyle Farnsworth
L – Jamie Walker
R – Franklyn German
R – Chris Spurling
L – Doug Creek
R – Fernando Rodney

DL:

R – Magglio Ordoñez (OF)
L – Bobby Higginson (OF)
R – Gary Knotts (60-day)
R – Colby Lewis (60-day)
L – Fernando Viña (IF) (60-day)

Typical Line-up

R – Brandon Inge (3B)
R - Placido Polanco (2B)
S – Carlos Guillen (SS)
R – Rondell White (LF)
R – Ivan Rodriguez (C)
S – Dmitri Young (DH)
R – Craig Monroe (RF)
R – Chris Shelton (1B)
S – Nook Logan (CF)