TAMPA — The Yankees said they didn’t want Jesus Montero or Austin Romine sitting on the bench for the first month of the season until Francisco Cervelli returns from a fractured foot.
“We felt they have to play every day to improve and develop,” manager Joe Girardi said of the catching prospects, neither of whom took advantage of Cervelli’s injury to make the Yankees take them as Russell Martin’s back-up. “They would be playing every six or seven days and that’s not in the best interest of their careers. They need to play every day.”
They will. Montero, who regressed defensively after being cast as the leader for the back-up spot when Cervelli went down, was sent to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre and Romine will start the season at Double-A Trenton.
As of last night Gustavo Molina was the backup, but the waiver wire might provide the Yankees with a better option.
Montero, easily the Yankees’ top position prospect at 21, batted .250 (10-for-40). Romine, 22, hit .182 (4-for-22).
Reserve corner infielder Eric Chavez was added to the roster.
In addition, the Yankees sent right-hander Mark Prior to Tampa (Single-A), optioned outfielder Justin Maxwell and infielder Ramiro Pena to SWB. Infield Rafael Belliard was released.
The Yankees have until Thursday to put pitchers Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon on the roster.
Lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano will open the season on the disabled list.
Finally, reliever Romulo Sanchez was close to getting sold to a team in Japan.
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Chavez had the option of getting out of his contract if he wasn’t added to the big club.
Chavez, 33, showed the Yankees early in camp his bat speed was there after playing in 64 games in the past three years for the A’s due to injuries. And he clinched the back-up infielder job by hitting .405 (17-for-42).
“He is a good bat to rest Alex [Rodriguez] and Tex [Mark Teixeira],” Girardi said of the left-handed hitting Chavez, who will make $1.5 million in salary and has a chance to add $4 million in performance bonuses and roster time.
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Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson are slated to throw an inning in a minor league game today. Rafael Soriano might pitch a big league frame.
A.J. Burnett, who will start Saturday against the Tigers, was slated to face the Rays in a final spring training tune up last night but the game was rained out. Instead, he threw in an indoor cage.
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Feliciano doesn’t believe the muscle problem in the back of his left shoulder is serious and also doesn’t think it will take him long to get off the DL once the pain leaves.
“I feel fine, I have to get rid of the little pain,” said the 34-year-old lefty who led the majors in appearances the past three years with 266. “As soon as I don’t feel pain I will need a couple of bullpens if the pain goes away quickly.”
Feliciano hasn’t pitched since March 9 and will be back-dated to March 22 when placed on the DL before Thursday’s Opening Day game against the Tigers.
“It’s the first time I won’t be with a team on Opening Day,” Feliciano said. “It hurts. I want to be ready for the team.”
Boone Logan moves from the second lefty in the pen to the primary lefty.
Yankees are still deciding who the 12th pitcher will be. It has come down to lefty Steve Garrison, righty Luis Ayala or an outsider via trade or waiver claim.
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Looking back, Kevin Millwood would have preferred being in camp sooner than the next to last day but that’s the situation he found himself in yesterday at Steinbrenner Field.
“It would have been nice to get here a little earlier but I am not going to look back on it now,” said the 36-year-old right-hander who signed a minor league contract with the Yankees last Friday that will pay him $1.5 million should he make it to the big leagues.
Had Millwood signed in February when the Yankees offered him the same deal he would have been in the competition for the fourth and fifth starter spots that went to Ivan Nova and Garcia.
Now, the pitcher with a career record of 159-137 who is known for inhaling innings will start the season at SWB and be insurance against a Yankee starter getting hurt or pitching ineffectively.
“I expect to get back to the big leagues and help a team win,” said Millwood, who has a May 1 out clause in the deal. “If I didn’t feel I could do that I wouldn’t be here, I would be home. I still feel like I can help a major league team win.”
Millwood has been throwing to college hitters in California for more than a month. At a recent workout for scouts, his velocity didn’t move much past 85 mph.
“I haven’t seen a radar gun, the velocity is what it is,” said Millwood, who suffered through a 4-16 season a year ago for the Orioles when he posted a 5.10 ERA.
As for last year’s nightmare, Millwood had the misfortune of pitching for the miserable Orioles.
“The first two months of the season and the last two months of the season were really good, I thought I threw the ball really well,” Millwood said. “The middle two months I didn’t pitch well. For two-thirds of the season I threw the ball well.
“It gets frustrating at times, before I have pitched well and didn’t get much for it. Everybody behind you is trying and you can’t get upset at those guys. I just picked the wrong day to pitch some times.”