[新聞] Younger and Cheaper Make Yankees Roster

[parabird (Harry)]

THe New York Times

Younger and Cheaper Make Yankees Roster

洋基的Roster更年輕,更便宜了.

By TYLER KEPNER
Published: March 30, 2007

DUNEDIN, Fla., March 30 — Sean Henn had no idea where the Class AAA
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees open the season. Now he won't have to make the
gloomy two-day journey to Pennsylvania to find out.

    Sean Henn 不知道洋基AAA球隊開幕戰在那開打. 現在他不需要花兩天的旅行到
Pennsylvania去找球場在那.

Instead Henn, a left-handed reliever who has never made an opening-day
roster, will pack up his car, ship it home and fly north with the team. He'll
open the season with the Yankees in the Bronx on Monday.

    Henn從未在開幕時待在25人名單中, 但今年他必須將他的車子打包, 將它運回家,
然後跟其他球員一起坐飛機往北飛. 星期一,他將會和基球員一起在Bronx進行開幕戰.

Manager Joe Torre revealed his roster on Friday, and Henn made the team. Two
other position battles were won by the younger competitor, with Wil Nieves
beating out Todd Pratt for the backup catcher role and Josh Phelps replacing
Andy Phillips as the backup first baseman. Torre held off on announcing
veteran reliever Ron Villone’s status.

    Jor Torre星期五發表球隊25人名單, Henn是其中一人. 另外兩個位置是由較年輕的
球員贏得. Wil Nieves打敗Todd Pratt獲得後備補手的位置. Josh Phelps取代Andy
Phillips 成為後備一壘手. Torre延後發怖老將後援投手Ron Villone的狀況.

Carl Pavano will start on opening day, followed by Andy Pettitte on
Wednesday, Mike Mussina on Thursday and Kei Igawa on Friday. Jeff Karstens
will likely start the season on the disabled list, as will Chien-Ming Wang.

    Carl Pavano會在開幕戰先發, Andy Pettitte隨後在星期三先發, Mike Mussina在
星期四, Kei Igawa會在星期五. Jeff Karstens可能和王建民一樣開季會待在傷兵名單.

Torre said the reason he held off until now in announcing Pavano as the
opening day starter is because he had considered giving Pettitte the
assignment. But in the end, the pitching coach Ron Guidry thought it made
more sense for Pettitte to get a longer tune-up since he has not pitched
since March 17 because of back spasms.

   Torre說, 他之所以會延後到現在才發佈先發投手是因為想給Pettitte這個任務. 但
最終, 投手教練Ron Guidry認為應該給Pettitte更多時間來調整較合理. 他從3月17日背
部受傷後就未上場投球.

The additions of Henn, Nieves and Phelps represent a subtle organizational
shift. Villone, Pratt and Phillips all fit the classic Torre profile because
of their experience. But General Manager Brian Cashman wants to make the team
younger and cheaper, and Torre is on board with that.

   Henn, Nieves 和 Phelps的加入代表洋基組織微妙的改變. Villone, Pratt和
Phillips都是Torre喜歡用的典型球員,因為他們有經驗. 但Cashman希望球隊更年輕,更
便宜. 而Torre也有相同看法.


Phillips had a typically classy reaction when Torre told him he had lost out
to Phelps. "It was tough," Torre said. "He thanked us. In fact, the last
thing he said to me was, he wanted to know if Phelps knew, because he wanted
to congratulate him."

Beyond the philosophical reasons, Henn and Phelps, especially, have far
outperformed their competition.

Henn and Phelps 有遠高於其競爭對手的表現.

Villone signed a non-guaranteed contract that calls for him to earn $2.5
million if he makes the opening-day roster. Because he costs so much more
than the rookie Henn, Villone had to pitch better than Henn to make the
roster.

    Villone簽的是不保證的合約, 如果他開季待在25人名單,他就可領250萬美金. 因為
他的薪水遠高於新人Henn, 所以Villone需要投得比Henn好才會待在25人名單.

Instead, he has pitched worse, with a 14.40 earned run average. In nine
games, opponents have batted .520. Henn has a 3.00 E.R.A. and a .182 opponents
average.

    但是他投得比Henn還要差, 有14.40 ERA. 在九場比賽中,對手的打擊高達0.520.
Henn只有3.00 ERA , 和0.182的對手打擊率.

Torre values Villone’s contribution from last season, when he followed a
poor spring with a solid few months. But after allowing a walk and two hits
on Wednesday, Villone dismissed the idea that Torre’s trust could help him
now.

“That’s great,” Villone said, “but I’m not performing, and I’m not
happy about it.”

Phillips did not play on Wednesday and was benched on Thursday in favor of
Phelps. Phillips missed the first 10 days of exhibition games because his
mother was injured in a serious car accident, and he never gained his timing,
hitting .182.

“He had to play some catch-up,” said the hitting coach Kevin Long. “He’s
finally getting some at-bats where he’s comfortable, but it’s just
unfortunate the way things happened for him.”

In some ways, Phillips was fighting a losing battle despite his familiarity
to Torre. The Yankees tried to upgrade last July when they traded for Craig
Wilson, and tried again at the winter meetings last December, when they
plucked Phelps from Baltimore in the Rule 5 draft.

Phelps is a year younger than Phillips, who turns 30 next week, and he has
210 more games of major league experience, with a better career average (.268
to .228) and more power. Playing last season at Class AAA Toledo in the
Detroit farm system, Phelps batted .308 with 24 homers and 90 runs batted in.

“He was in our league last year, and he tore it up,” said Long, who worked
then for the Yankees’ Class AAA team.

Phelps is batting .400 with 3 homers and 10 R.B.I. He has three seasons in
the majors with at least 15 homers. After playing for Tampa Bay in 2005, he
did not receive a call-up by the Tigers last season.

“Last year, I had good spring numbers, too,” Phelps said. “The difference
is, this spring there’s been a genuine opportunity.”

Nieves, 29, is a .288 career hitter in the minors and has spent the last two
seasons with the Yankees’ Class AAA team.

He is eager for his first hit in the majors since 2002.

“I can’t wait — I’m going to keep the ball,” said Nieves, who, like
Pratt, has hit under .200 this spring. “It’s going to be a great feeling.
Just being on this team is a blessing.”

Pratt, 40, has 14 years in the majors and has no plans to play in the minors.
Neither does Nieves, at least in the Yankees’ system. He is out of minor
league options and said he would probably try to sign with another
organization rather than play for Scranton.

But, like Henn, Nieves is not focusing on that.

“All my career, I think positive until something else happens,” Nieves
said. “Right now, in my mind and in my heart, I think something good is
going to happen.”

Like Phelps and Henn, he has reason to be optimistic.

INSIDE PITCH

The Yankees said Cory Lidle’s widow, Melanie, and son, Christopher, will
make the ceremonial first pitch on opening day Monday. Lidle’s parents and
brother will also attend the game.

    洋基說Cory Lidle的遺孀Melanie和兒子Christopher會在開幕戰當天進行開球儀式.
Lidle的雙親和兄弟也會來到這場比賽.


翻得不好!
有錯請指正!
謝謝!


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推 picrona:有看有推
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推 gerkk:感謝翻譯
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