A few days ago, I discussed the battle for the utility infielder spot that is being waged between Ramiro Pena and Angel Berroa. At the time, this is what I said:
It seems pretty close. While Berroa has obviously had a great spring with the bat, he has only taken one walk compared to 4 by Pena. Berroa has shown significantly more power, while Pena has been better on the basepaths. Defensively, although Pena has more errors than Berroa, he is widely considered a great defensive shortstop, while Berroa is deemed one of the worst. Joe Girardi is not going to have an easy answer here, as both players have earned a look. Personally, I would start the season with Berroa, being that this is doubtful to be a full season role. Once A-Rod comes back, Cody Ransom is likely to move to the bench, sending the winner of this job to the minors. The Yankees might be better off trying to catch lightning in a bottle with Berroa for a few weeks while allowing Pena to develop normally in Scranton.
Most of the comments on the post disagreed with me, and felt that Pena should win the job due to his youth, better defense, and Berroa’s poor track record. However, one issue that we touched on only briefly but may actually be the key point in the Yankees’ decision has to do with the 40 man roster.
Assuming that Cody Ransom will be handed the utility job upon Alex Rodriguez’s return, we are discussing a spot that will only be open for 6 weeks. Neither Berroa nor Pena is on the 40-man roster, so that someone will need to be removed from the 40 man roster and be made available to claims of other clubs in order to add one of these two to the list. However, what happens once A-Rod returns is where these two scenarios diverge. If Berroa is the choice, he can be removed from the 40 man at that point, with the worst thing that can happen being that Berroa is claimed by another club while passing through waivers. Considering that Angel is clearly not part of the Yankees’ long term plans, this is not a huge deal. However, if the Yankees select Pena, they will be forced to keep him on the 40 man roster for the long haul, as he would almost certainly be claimed when passing through waivers. This would severely limit the Yankees flexibility, as it will cause a roster spot to be occupied by a player who is unlikely to be a major cog on this club in the immediate future. I think this makes the decision easy: Berroa should make the team.
What do you think?
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14 Responses to How The Roster Crunch Will Affect The Pena/Berroa Decision
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The Yankees won’t have anybody to put back on to the 40-man roster after Pena or Berroa are optioned, or put through waivers in Berroa’s case (Pena as a rookie must have all his options left). They’ll have to release somebody to make room for one of them anyway and I don’t think the Yankees will be rushing to re-add, for instance, Dan Giese back to the 40-man.
If they rate Pena highly, which considering the press he’s getting seems to be the case, the Yankees won’t mind keeping him on the 40-man for the foreseeable future. There are a few less valuable candidates already on the 40-man who are unlikely to ever play a role in New York (Miranda comes immediately to mind).
Having an open 40 man spot is important for flexibility. For example, if they want to give Melancon a look, or A-Jax blows up in the minors, or want to sign a free agent such as Grudz, they need a spot. Why create a situation where you would have to release another player when the difference between Pena and Berroa is likely to be negligible? And for that matter, Miranda and Giese, one of whom will be waived now, seem to be the only easy to let go guys on the 40 man roster. The Yankees have a crunch, and I would not get it if they make it worse for such minimal benefit.
In regard to Pena’s options, they are irrelevant when considering the 40 man roster. They only matter with sending a player up and down (from the 25 man to off the 25 man), but all players who come off the 40 must go through waivers.
My point about Pena’s options was only to indicate that he could easily be sent down to the minors when A-Rod returns. The options aren’t entirely irrelevant when considering the 40 man roster as Berroa who is out of options must be exposed to outright wavers if he is released from the Yankees (after making the roster obviously).
With the news that A-Rod might return sooner than anticipated, however, I agree that Pena should be sent to AAA rather than moving forward his arbitration years, using up one of his options and, as your original post commented on, taking up a space on the 40-man.
Yeah, I realized after my comment what you were getting at, but forgot to post a correction. And it is entirely true that A-Rod’s timeframe alters this discourse. If he had a setback until July, I would consider more strongly the Pena option.
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I didnt see it there (although I do check in on your blog). Looking at your article, one point that you do not spell out (although you allude to it) is that Pena would need to stay on the roster, which is the crux of my argument. Anywho, your blog looks very solid- nice work bringing in writers and building it up.
I didn’t really think it was necessary because to me it was obvious. Once they put him on the roster he’s on the roster unless they put him through waivers. They wouldn’t just put him on the roster to release him unless he was a 30-year-old journeyman.
I was just busting your chops. The more I think about it, the more I think there is no way they take Pena unless they think that he is better as a utility man than Ransom long term, so that after A-Rod comes back, ransom goes down.
Exactly. In that case though I think they would have to be giving up on him actually becoming a regular ss and instead think that his career would be as no higher than a utility man. Which could be the case.
You are obviously right.
The roster flexibility is so much more important than the handful of at bats that we will have either take in this six week window. Plus, Pena needs more development time.
I think Pena should start in the minors I know the consensus is he will not be a very good major league hitter. Maybe the kid can develop with the bat and if so that would be a nice answer to the JETER at ss problem for the future. I dont think Pena is so important to the team he has to be the backup ss let him find out if he can hit.
Totally agree. He is definitely not going to develop getting 2-4 Ab’s a month.
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