New York Yankees: Plenty of Opportunities As the Team Opens Spring Training

Spring Training in Tampa, Florida will be very interesting to follow this year.

The New York Yankees are coming in after a disappointing ending to 2010 and a somewhat odd offseason.

Veterans and youngsters will all have opportunities to impress the Yankees staff and earn roster spots for the upcoming 2011 season. Up and down the roster, there are holes that can need filling, jobs that can be won.

A handful of pitchers enter the Spring with hope of making the Opening Day roster. The starting rotation alone has two spots yet to be filled. Behind CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees will need to fill the final two rotation spots.

Youngsters Ivan Nova, Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos will battle veterans Sergio Mitre, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia for those two open spots.

Of course, the Yankees will be linked to available free agents like Kevin Millwood and potential trade targets Francisco Liriano all season.

The bullpen, which could be one of the best in the league, does have some maneuvering to be done.

With newly signed Rafael Soriano handling the eighth inning ahead of closer Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Pedro Feliciano will likely handle the sixth and seventh innings.

Other pitchers like Mark Prior, Luis Ayala, Brian Anderson and Warner Madrigal will be looking to earn roster spots.

Continue reading the full article at Double G Sports to see the rest of the roster battles.