Hockey Should Not Close Out Yankee Stadium

I missed the boat on this story by, oh about 11 days or so, but it seems the Yankees and the NHL have been in negotiations over making a Rangers (hockey) game the last sporting event at the old stadium. The logic behind this one, is well, non-existent. I can't for the life of me figure out why Yankee Stadium would close with an NHL game. It just makes no sense.

The theory is that the outdoor game between the Penguins and Sabres was the first step towards the NHL branching out and doing things like the other major sports. Major League Baseball has trips to Puerto Rico and Japan and the NFL had the Giants-Dolphins game in England, so in that sense, I completely support the NHL wanting to experiment with new things. And it is undeniable that the outdoor game was a huge success - I thoroughly enjoyed it - but from the Yankees end how does this add up? You have the most successful U.S. sports team ever closing out the same ground that has fielded what seems like half of the Hall of Fame, 26 World Championships, countless division titles and many of the game's most noteworthy moments and you want to give a place like that a send-off by showing a regular season Rangers game? It's like closing Vatican City with a Bar Mitzvah.

The last event at Yankee Stadium should be the Yankees celebrating their elusive 27th championship and if that can't happen than it should simply end with the Yankees' season. Let the captain go down with the ship. The All-Star Game will be there this year and New York will field some of its best homegrown talent in a decade. Isn't that good enough? Why would you do something silly like host a Rangers game? Madison Square Garden is probably a top five home ice advantage anyway and has its own share of amazing moments, so what message is that sending? Would the Yankees ever play a regular season game at Giants Stadium? I doubt it.

The only interesting part of this whole thing would be to see how it gets done and if the Rangers could even fill 56,000 seats (are there that many hockey fans on the planet?). But the message here is very un-Yankeeslike. I'm all about the New York teams doing business ventures together or cross promoting, but this seems like it is unnecessary and wrong. Especially since the Stadium will not be used for sporting events when the new one opens, so this would officially be the last sporting event ever to take place and it would involve 20 guys in sweaters on frozen water.

Ensberg added to 40-man roster:

Morgan Ensberg was added to the 40-man roster today which solves the bench mystery. Betemit, Duncan, Molina, Ensberg and Matsui/Giambi (whoever is not DH'ing) will fill reserve roles. This is the route I suggested earlier in the off-season so I can't disagree with it. Ensberg is only set to make $1.75 million now that he was granted a contract and the upside far outweighs eating that money. With no options left, there is no chance the former Astro will see any minor league games that aren't part of a rehab assignment. On a sidenote, Ensberg has already announced he will change his number because he is not comfortable with the 21 that Paul O'Neill wore and rightfully so. It will most likely be retired with number 51 sometime soon (though personally I am in support of only Bernie Williams' number being officially retired by New York).

If Ensberg can play any sort of defense and resort to hitting like he did in 2005, the last time he was completely healthy with two good shoulders, there is tremendous potential in the signing. A right-handed power bat is a necessity, especially off the bench, and a Major League caliber first baseman is a necessity to keep Giambi healthy. I would venture to guess Ensberg will face lefties and split time with Giambi at first base, while Duncan will face lefties in place of Abreu in right field.

This Yankees bench is extremely solid and not even comparable to what they came to action with last season at this time, so you have to like the offense's chances of not getting off to a two-month slump like last season when the players were out of shape and the bench wasn't good enough to make up for it. Attached with the move was Carl Pavano's placement on the 60-day disabled list, or as he likes to call it, "Vegas."

At this point, I would say 22 of the 25 spots for Opening Day have been filled with the three remaining battles between: Igawa, Traber and Phillips for lefty reliever (Traber has to be winning in a landslide right now), Karstens and Rasner for long relief (Rasner's four inning of two-hit baseball helped his cause today) and the final reliever spot (Patterson must be the favorite as he has yet to give up a run or an inherited run in Spring Training).