Predicting The 25 Man Roster Two Weeks Into Spring

I have proven by my Free Agency Prediction post that I should not be buying any lottery tickets any time soon but two weeks into Spring Training I wanted to take a stab at predicting the 25 man roster. We have a general idea of what is going to happen after seeing who Joe Girardi has been using and where Joe Girardi has been playing them. This is obviously subject to change.

C - Francisco Cervelli

1B - Mark Teixeira

2B - Robinson Cano

SS - Derek Jeter

3B Kevin Youkilis

LF - Melky Mesa

CF - Brett Gardner

RF - Ichiro Suzuki

DH - Travis Hafner

BN - Chris Stewart

BN - Dan Johnson

BN - Jayson Nix

BN - Juan Rivera

SP - CC Sabathia

SP - Hiroki Kuroda

SP - Andy Pettitte

SP - Phil Hughes

SP - Ivan Nova

LR - David Phelps

MR - David Aardsma

MR - Joba Chamberlain

MR - Boone Logan

MR - Clay Rapada

SU - David Robertson

CL - Mariano Rivera

Obviously Melky Mesa would not be listed if Curtis Granderson was not injured and set to miss the first month of the season. Mesa has proven he can play all three outfield positions, has enough defense and speed to suffice, and can hit and drive the ball for power. It is going to be a close competition between him and Zoilo Almonte to be honest but I like Mesa more in this situation.

Obviously Eduardo Nunez was not on this list and he originally was until I heard he was working on a new throwing motion. When teams do things like this to players with minor league options it almost always seems like they are destined for the minor leagues. Dan Johnson will be the 2013 version of Eric Chavez being a left handed hitter that can fill in at third base and first base when needed.

The pitching should be no surprise but I ALMOST put Jim Miller in instead of Clay Rapada after a strong start to the spring. Joe Girardi seems like he has a sort of obsession with having a second lefty in the bullpen though especially considering all the miles that are on Boone Logan's arm lately.

Juan Rivera seems to be outshining Matt Diaz in the 4th outfielder competition so I put him in there as the early winner. He is seeing the ball better and hitting the ball better and is not a slouch out in the field. I really like Matt Diaz especially considering that I live in Atlanta, Georgia and have been watching him for years but he is just not getting it done right now.

It is still really early in spring and all of this is still scheduled to change obviously but if I am Joe Girardi this is what I am penciling in for Opening Day.