Yankees Busy with Roster Moves

According to Peter Abraham of the Journal News, the Yankees have been quite busy with roster transactions over the past 24 hours replacing Chien-Ming Wang, Brian Bruney and Cody Ransom, all placed on the DL, with David Robertson, Mark Melancon, and Angel Berroa.

That’s quite a few moves so let me sort this out for you.

Wang was placed on the 15-day DL with a hip injury that resulted from a slight change in his mechanics following his return from a foot injury. The Yankees don’t need another starter this weekend so they called Robertson up to provide some support in the bullpen for a few days.

When the Yankees do eventually need a fifth starter it is likely that Phil Hughes will be called up, but that will come later. That will likely be on Tuesday against Detroit and when it does happen expect relief pitcher Steven Jackson to go down in his place.

Bruney has been placed on the 15-day DL because of a sore shoulder. He was sent back to New York to have his elbow examined and until results of the MRI come back there will be no word on the severity the injury.

To replace Bruney as setup man the Yankees have called up Mark Melancon. Now Melancon won’t take Bruney’s role immediately, but the fact that he’s been called up signals that they don’t exactly expect Bruney back soon.

Melancon wasn’t on the 40-man roster so in order to make room for him the Yankees released the injury plagued Humberto Sanchez. It’s a bit of a surprising move, but Sanchez has the tendency to make Carl Pavano look like a workhorse.

The final moves are all a result of Ransom who strained his right quad. Pete Abe said the injury was a slight tear and as a result Ransom has landed himself on the 60-day DL. This means they need another third baseman so the Yankees called up Berroa.

Now, like Melancon, Berroa wasn’t on the 40-man roster either. But this isn’t a problem because when they placed Ransom on the 60-day DL they effectively took him off the roster which makes room for Berroa.

It’s hard to tell who the Yankees everyday third baseman is going to be until Alex Rodriguez comes back. It’s likely to be Berroa, but it shouldn’t be that big of a deal as the Bombers have gotten nothing but good news concerning Arod’s rehab and he should be about ready to get into some minor league games and could be back before May 15.

So to recap all of that:

Chien-Ming Wang –> 15-day DL
David Robertson –> Active Roster
Brian Bruney –> 15-day DL
Mark Melancon –> Active Roster
Humberto Sanchez –> Released
Cody Ransom –> 60-day DL
Angel Berroa –> Active Roster