Cervelli Replaces McCann On Panama Trip

This may or may not put the trade rumors surrounding Francisco Cervelli to bed for a few days as Cervelli will be replacing Yankees catcher Brian McCann on the roster heading down to Panama to honor Mariano Rivera. The reason we were given from manager Joe Girardi was to give more time for McCann to work with Masahiro Tanaka who starts Tuesday and Hiroki Kuroda who will start the game on Wednesday. CC Sabathia and Adam Warren are expected to make the starts in Panama in the short two game series against the Miami Marlins.

It is worth noting that McCann has not caught Tanaka in a game at all this spring and Opening Day is right at two weeks away, so the reasoning makes some sense. Especially when you consider the fact that Cervelli has caught Tanaka twice and the fact that McCann needs to get used to catching Tanaka's splitter and working with him.

While we are on the Panama trip it is worth mentioning that Girardi told us that Derek Jeter would start Game One in Panama at shortstop and would be the team's designated hitter in Game Two. Jeter, Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner, and other prominent players will be unavailable Monday when the Yankees travel to Bradenton, Florida to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates due to the flight and travel, just as another FYI.