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If there is one area that you can say Joe Girardi did a very good job in this year it was his handling of the bullpen.  Joe Torre had a tendency to overwork certain guys to death, leaving Rivera as the only healthy arm by the end of the season.  Girardi took a more democratic approach using different guys in different spots and generally not defining too many roles.  He even got Kyle Farnsworth to be productive which is simply amazing.  There are ten guys on the 40-man who are relieved this year that we haven't spoken about, let's look at them in the groups we used yesterday: Get rid of, allow to compete, pencil into a spot:

The get rid of pile consists of two pitchers: Damaso Marte and Chris Britton.  Marte was a good idea that just didn't work out. He has an option for next year at $6-million which is way too much money for his performance.  He actually pitched pretty well against lefties in New York, but righties shelled him.  Either way, it's time to move on.  As for Britton, I don't know who he pissed off in the organization, but it is clear it is someone.  I have a feeling it may have something to do with his conditioning, or lack thereof.  Either way, the Yankees have a bunch of younger pitchers who they should protect on the roster and Britton is a casualty to make room for them.

The pencil them in pile consists of three pitchers: Rivera, Bruney and Veras.  Mo is obvious and Bruney and Veras showed enough in 2008 to warrant spots in 2009.  The thing that impressed me the most about Bruney this year was his rehab from injury.  He could have settled for surgery, but he worked hard got back into the bigs and pitched well.  Veras' second half swoon concerns me, but I think it might have more to do with a tired arm (he only pitched 30 innings in 2007 due to injury) than anything else.  Either way, he showed enough to get a spot in the 2009 pen.

And that bring us to the five other guys who pitched in 2008, but don't have a role yet in 2009: Albie, Coke, Ramirez, Robertson and Sanchez.  Coke is going to get every chance to be a lefty in the pen in '09 and I hope the Yankees save their money this offseason and don't sign any reliever to a big deal because guys like Robertson, Ramirez and Sanchez can probably be just as effective at a much cheaper cost.  I liked what I saw in Albie before he got hurt and he should be given a chance to make the club.

We have three guys who didn't pitch this year but are on the 40-man: Brackman, Marquez and Chase Wright.  Brackman is rehabbing and has an ETA of 2010.  Marquez was bad this year, but he will be given another chance at AAA.  Chase Wright had a very nice year at AA/AAA and should get a shot in camp to pitch his way into a job. 

So, we have three starters and three bullpen roles set.  I would suggest that Hughes should get a starting role in 2009 and the bullpen will probably shake out with some combination of Ramirez, Sanchez, Robertson, Albie, Coke and Aceves filling the remaining three or four spots.   I therefore wouldn't spend a lot of money on pitching, with the exception of adding one starter.  We will talk about that starter next week, but for now we will focus on the offense tomorrow.