"Melancon and Cox should be ready for Opening Day" and other news

Written by Greg Fertel | 18 December 2007

Chad Jennings has the info from his conversation with minor league director Mark Newman on his fantastic blog,.

No big surprise, but Newman said Mark Melancon and J.B. Cox should be ready for the start of the season. Humberto Sanchez (left) will not be. All three are coming back from elbow surgery.

Melancon is a former University of Arizona closer who has already started pitching in instructional camp. Cox is a former University of Texas closer who was terrific in Trenton last season. Newman said, even if both are ready for opening day, there's a good chance they will both start in Tampa to avoid the cold weather of Trenton or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Sanchez was the key to the Gary Sheffield trade but had Tommy John last year.

This is great news, as both players seem to be making good progress in their respective rehabs from elbow surgery. It seems like a smart decision on the Yankees' part to ease the two of them into pitching to live batters again by having them start out in high-A Tampa, where the weather is warm and the level of competition is lower. In other news, Jennings also reports that Juan Miranda will be starting the season in AAA, platooning at 1B and DH with Eric Duncan. They are promoting Miranda aggressively, but he showed this season in Tampa, Trenton and Arizona that he can handle it. I think they would like to see if he can contribute to the team this season. This promotion seems to show a lack of confidence in Eric Duncan, but hopefully this will motivate him to get his act together and start hitting again. Newman also told Jennings that any minor league pitcher would be eligible to pitch in the big league bullpen this season if called upon to do so, including Alan Horne and Jeff Marquez. He also said that some minor league starters might get a chance to win a bullpen spot in spring training. This seems like a smart decision, as the market for relievers is mediocre and overpriced, and the Yanks have plenty of talent within that could fill bullpen spots.