The announcement will come later today. It has to. But since Joe Girardi is taking his sweet time, I’m going to give you all my best guess. Just in case you didn’t see before, the playoff rotation has been set. Here’s my projection (most notably without A.J. Burnett):
Position Players (14)
Jorge Posada
Francisco Cervelli
Mark Teixeira
Lance Berkman
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Brett Gardner
Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Marcus Thames
Austin Kearns
Greg Golson
Ramiro Pena
Pitchers (11)
CC Sabathia
Andy Pettitte
Phil Hughes
Mariano Rivera
Joba Chamberlain
David Robertson
Boone Logan
Kerry Wood
Sergio Mitre
Ivan Nova
Royce Ring
I don’t think there is much doubt about the position players except for the Pena-Eduardo Nunez battle for utility infielder. I went with Pena because of his experience.
As for the pitchers, I wanted to make it clear there was no use for Burnett in the playoffs. I have more trust in Nova and Mitre as mop-up guys than Burnett. Honestly, I don’t see the Yankees having to use anyone outside the “Big 5” of Rivera, Wood, Chamberlain, Robertson, Logan.
Here are a few Twitter reactions on the matter:
Would you go with A.J.? Tell me in the comments.
UPDATE: Here’s the final roster. And yes, A.J. is on it.