Yankees Manager Sounds Off On Moves Club Made

The Yankees took their sweet time sorting out the 25-man opening day roster. On Thursday, manager Joe Girardi finally, lets us know why a certain few were selected over others.

Admit it, you were scared that the other Aaron was going to be named the Yankees starting right fielder. I’m man enough to admit, I was. Luckily, better spring stats and overall potential outweighed all the but’s and what if’s that could have very well sent another promising young player down to Triple-A. That Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team is going to be a lot of fun to watch this season. Joining the recently demoted

Joining the recently demoted Tyler Wade down on the farm will be Rob Refsnyder and Jordan Montgomery.

On Friday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi gave the media plenty of reasons as to why he and club officials chose the players they did to make up the roster — as the Bombers get ready to open up the season against the Rays on Sunday.

On Judge Beating Out Hicks

"“He’s [Judge] our right fielder. We’re going to run him out there. We’ve seen a lot of times, guys have great Spring Training’s and get off to slow starts, vice versa. Sometimes they get off to slow Spring Trainings and get off to great starts. But it’s not going to be a day-to-day basis, a week-to-week basis. This kid’s going to play.”"

I figured this was a lock once Refsnyder was sent down. Had Judge been optioned to Triple-A as well, the big league team would have been without a fourth outfielder.

On Severino Being Named the 4th Starter

"“I looked at his [Severino] last start and I thought his fastball location was much better. If you have to go through a lineup two or three times, you better locate. You can get away with power fastball sometimes when a guy sees you once an at-bat when it’s that sort of thing. But you can’t do that when they’re seeing you two or three at-bats a game. That was the thing that got him in the most trouble last year.”"

As I stated on Twitter yesterday, Bryan Mitchell has to be a bit peeved he was passed up for the rotation. While he still has a shot to grab the fifth and final spot once the Yankees need another starter come Apr. 16, Mitchell cannot allow himself to lose focus pitching out of the ‘pen until then.

When Girardi was asked about the 5th spot, he heaped his praise on 6’6″ Jordan Montgomery. Girardi followed this up with some inspiring words about Mitchell and Adam Warren.

"“These guys are going to continue to compete for this fifth spot. Jordan Montgomery has put himself in a good place. I think [Chad] Green was a little bit behind when he got here and put himself in a good place as he moved forward and pitched better. So we’re going to line those guys up to be available for us on the 16th.”"

"“We felt two guys [Mitchell and Warren] who could give you really multiple innings were really important. There’s a lot of things that you deal with early in the season.”"

On the Yankees’ Plethora of Top Young Talent

"“Billy McKinney wasn’t even coming to camp. This kid’s impressive. There’s a lot for me to watch over this season with these young kids and how they’re gong to perform. And we have Jorge Mateo. He’s going to A-ball. And that kid is really talented. But you have a Tyler Wade and you have a Gleyber Torres. There’s a lot of depth.”"

Next: A-Rod Compares Bird to Mattingly

Well, there you have — the manager’s reasoning as to why the Yankees made the moves they did. Whether you agree with them or not, this is the hand we’ve been dealt to begin the 2017 season. Of course, in the span of 162 games, things usually change pretty quickly.

The Yankees took their sweet time sorting out the 25-man opening day roster. On Thursday, manager Joe Girardi finally, lets us know why a certain few were selected over others.

On Judge Beating Out Hicks

On Severino Being Named the 4th Starter

On the Yankees’ Plethora of Top Young Talent

Schedule