The Tuesday Discussion: The Last Man...

September 24, 2004

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This week we asked our writers to respond to the following:

What longshot candidate would you consider adding to the Yankees' roster for the post season?  

Here are their replies:

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Paul Semendinger - Mike Whiteman actually brought this up on the SSTN Podcast last week, but I'd bring back Ben Rice. Rice can be the emergency catcher allowing for pinch hitting for Jose Trevino and/or pinch running for Trevino or Austin Wells. In a pinch, he could also play first base. Finally, although he didn't hit much during his big league stay, his bat could be a threat off the bench. In actuality, I don't see Rice getting any post season appearances, but having him on the playoff roster would give the Yankees some needed insurance that, to me, sounds very valuable.

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Cary Greene - Right now, the best hitter the Yankees could call up would be Ben Rice so I'm sticking by my season long opinion that he could be an extra weapon in the postseason. Rice can also catch and I think he'd be more valuable than Anthony Rizzo will be in the postseason as well. Plus, Rice has been playing well in Scranton since he was optioned in favor of the Rizz. 

Scott Effross also is making a strong case to return to the Yankees bullpen so he might be a very important bridge reliever to look at. He's capable of going more than one inning too, which could really help the Yankees bullpen. 

Should the Yankees add either of these players, they'll have to make a very tough to decide corresponding roster move plus, rosters will shrink down to 26 men for the playoffs. 

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Ethan Semendinger - Every postseason team needs a pure speed guy off the bench. So many great moments- and winning moments- were made by taking the extra base in a pivotal moment or successfully stealing a base late in a game.

The Yankees speed guys are Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm, but they're everyday players. And even though Volpe has been struggling with the bat, I can't see the Yankees moving him into that role (which would also mean either Oswald Peraza or Jorbit Vivas becomes the 26th man). His defense at shortstop is too valuable.

Instead, I think Duke Ellis gets the call. He has 5 MLB at-bats and 5 stolen bases. He has played in 8 games with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and has 6 stolen bases. He's the guy to grab that last spot.