AL East Notes: Yankees Roster, Joyce, Rays Managerial Finalists

The Yankees currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster after adding four players and selling Zelous Wheeler to Japan. More change is on the way, writes Chad Jennings of LoHud.com in an analysis of the roster. Jennings expects the club to add another four players, which would necessitate further moves. He speculates that Chase Whitley, Preston Claiborne, David Huff, Esmil Rogers, and Austin Romine are all candidates to be designated for assignment. Romine is the most obvious since he is out of options and behind Brian McCann and John Ryan Murphy on the depth chart.

• The Rays are open to trading Matt Joyce, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The 30-year-old platoon outfielder is coming off a .254/.349/.383 season. The Rays have hidden Joyce from lefties with just 35 of his 493 plate appearances coming against fellow southpaws. FanGraphs’ Dave Cameron has noted that clubs are showing a preference for right-handed power hitters, so I wonder if that may retard the interest in Joyce. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projects a $4.9MM payday for Joyce in his final spin through arbitration.
• The Rays’ decision to drop bench coach Dave Martinez from their managerial hunt was an “especially difficult” decision, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. As we saw with Tim Bogar and the Rangers, the club may opt to part ways with Martinez as a clean break from the Joe Maddon era. We learned earlier in the week that the Rays have narrowed the field to Kevin Cash, Raul Ibanez, and Don Wakamatsu. Of the trio, only Wakamatsu has managerial experience.