Yankees set for 2006

The New York Yankees are set for the 2006 season after the signings of Damon, Bernie and Dotel this week. The only move that could happen would be Roger Clemens if the future first-round Hall of Famer says he wants to play on in 2006 then I have little doubt that the Bronx Bombers would be interested.

The question is though is this squad good enough to win it all?

The simple answer is of course yes, but that doesn't mean that they will.

Lineup wise then the Yankees look very impressive. Damon's signing will enable Jeter to return to that #2 hole giving the Yankees a 1-2 punch like they had with Knoblauch and Jeter back in the dynasty days. Lots of conjecture around how the lineup will look behind them but I'll go with Giambi, A-Rod, Sheffield and Matsui before going into Jorge, Bernie and the nipper at 2nd hitting in the #9 hole.

On paper it is a cracking lineup.

Rotation wise we look ok but certainly aren't anything special. We go into the 2006 season with many questions surrounding our starters. Will Randy be the Randy we expected? Will Moose pitch like pitchers seem to in a contract year? Can Carl Pavano earn his money? Are Chacon and Wang for real? So many questions and we won't know the answers for a good while yet.

Down in the pen we still have Mo at the end but with newcomers in the form of Dotel, Farnsworth, Villone and Myers joining two from Sturtze, Proctor, Small and Wright then you'd have to say we've moved forwards on that front. Dotel won't be ready until June in most likelihood but I really like his signing as he gives Joe a real option down in the pen. Whether or not Farnsworth will be able to pitch under the full glare of the NY spotlight remains to be seen, but again on paper it looks a decent move.

So ladies and gentleman, barring any major injuries we don't know about as yet and any big shock moves, here are your 2006 New York Yankees:

Catchers:

Jorge Posada
Kelly Sinnett

Infielders:

Jason Giambi
Andy Phillips
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Kevin Howard

Outfielders:

Hideki Matsui
Gary Sheffield
Bernie Williams
Bubba Crosby
Johnny Damon

Starters:

Randy Johnson
Mike Mussina
Carl Pavano
Shawn Chacon
Chien-Ming Wang

BP:

Mariano Rivera
Kyle Farnsworth
Ron Villone
Mike Myers
Jaret Wright
Aaron Small
Tanyon Sturtze

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