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April 6th is going to be a great sports day for Yankees' fans.  You can tune into the Yanks-Orioles game at 4:05 and then watch the National Championship basketball game at 9pm.  For sports fans these are some of the best weeks of the year, we have survived the dead period between the end of the football season and the start of the baseball season.  March Madness is upon us and when it ends baseball begins.

For the Yankees there are a few issues that need to be sorted out in the remaining weeks of camp. Let's go through them.

Who will be the centerfielder on Opening Day?  It's very hard to see how Brett Gardner doesn't get the job.  Not only is he hitting at a torrid clip, .379/.438/.759, he adds a tremedous amount of speed to the lineup.  Melky Cabrera has a nice OBP, but he isn't hitting for power (not that you should really expect him to) and after nearly 1500 AB's in the bigs, it is hard to see him becoming anything more than he is right now.  Cabrera is out of options, so I would expect him to make the team eventhough Shelly Duncan is more deserving of a spot right now.

Can Posada catch?  His first test came today and by all accounts he did very well.  The next three weeks will tell us what we need to know about this.  

What will the bullpen look like?  From all accounts, it sounds like the Yankees will carry 12 pitchers.  That means seven relievers and the only locks for the pen are Rivera, Bruney and Marte.  I think Phil Coke is probably well on his way to earning a job.  He has put up nice numbers and is a lefty.  Veras is probably back as well, leaving two spots open.  One of those would go to a long reliever and right now I think Brett Tomko is the leader.  It really is a four-player race with Tomko, Aceves, Giese and Jason Johnson.  Johnson first got into a game the other day since he is recovering from retinal cancer.  Giese and Aceves haven't been good so far this March, but there is time of that to change. Personally, I hope they use Giese or Aceves in this role since I don't believe in Tomko's abilities at this point in his career.  One option the Yankees could try is using Coke as the long guy as well.

That leaves one spot and I think it is a two-player race between Edwar Ramirez and Jonathan Albaladejo.  Now Edwar has been hurt so he hasn't had much of a chance to compete yet, while Albie has been good, but in only four innings.  Ramirez was solid last year, but I just don't think he will ever amount to more than a hit-or-miss bet throughout his career.  Albie looked good last April before he got hurt and I hope the Yankees go with him.  Either way, whoever loses this competition should have some trade value, something the Yankees should consider using before the season starts. 

Is Angel Berroa the utility infielder?  For now I think he has won the job because of the injury to A-Rod.  Berroa has torn the cover off the ball, but his defense has been suspect at best.  If you assume the Yankees leave camp with 13 hitters, six of them are going to be outfielders (Damon, Gardner, Nady, Swisher, Cabrera and Matsui)  Add in two catchers and that leaves five infielders and Berroa makes it because A-Rod is on the DL.