Those final New York Yankees roster decisions we were discussing the other day? Well, they have begun to come down, less than 72 hours away from Opening Day on Thursday vs. the Detroit Tigers.
The Yankees have traded hard-throwing right-handed reliever Romulo Sanchez, who apparently fell short in his bid to grab the last spot on the 12-man pitching staff. As of this wrting, though, no one has told reporters what team Sanchez is heading to. Dealing away Sanchez helps break up what appears to be a log-jam in the Yankee minor league system at AA and AAA, where the Yankees seem to have more arms than they can use.
Ben Shipgel of the New York Times tweeted that veteran third baseman Eric Chavez has made the Opening Day roster, having been signed today to a major-league contract. That news was not unexpected, as the Yankees have been indicating that would be the case in recent days.
The news that lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano will start the season on the disabled list should also come as no surprise. The Yankees have also been indicating for a while that the veteran lefty would not be ready to start the season.