I know what you're thinking: The Yankees have a lot of pitchers.

What? You weren't thinking that? Okay, fine. But I am some sort of deranged fanatic, and I am thinking that. This is what people like me do. We obsess over bullpen construction in February.

Moving on, the Yankees have 19 pitchers (T.J. Beam, Colter Bean, Chris Britton, Brian Bruney, Kyle Farnsworth, Sean Henn, Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens, Mike Mussina, Mike Myers, Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Scott Proctor, Darrell Rasner, Mariano Rivera, Humberto Sanchez, Jose Veras, Luis Vizcaino, and Chien-Ming Wang) on their 40-man roster, and have room for as many as four more (Ron Villone? Ross Ohlendorf? Philip Hughes???). The rotation is probably set for opening day with Wang, Mussina, Pettitte, Igawa, and Pavano. If we accept that the Yankees are going with 12 pitchers, that leaves seven more spots. Mariano Rivera is a given, and the performance of Scott Proctor and the contract of Kyle Farnsworth probably guarantee each of them a spot. This leaves four more spots, and here we have some decisions to make.

The team should probably go with two relievers who are particularly adept against left-handed hitting. This means there should be two spots between lefties Villone, Myers, Henn, and the right-hander Vizcaino. Henn was once an exciting prospect, throwing 100 mph, but those days are gone, and he has failed to distinguish himself in AAA. As such, he's probably out. Myers has been exceptional against LHB over the last three years (.213/.272/.321), but he is not very versatile (.315/.425/.497 against RHB), and he doesn't provide many innings. Villone and Vizcaino are both at least functional against RHB, and both can provide more innings than Myers. In addition, Myers is a recognizable name with a very palatable contract, making him a potentially valuable trading chip. I doubt it would take Ca$hmoney very long to find someone looking for left-handed relief.

For the last two spots, we have to pick amongst Beam, Bean, Britton, Bruney, Karstens, Rasner, Sanchez, and Veras, and perhaps Ohlendorf and Hughes. Using a top prospect like Hughes or Sanchez as a reliever now is a bit of a waste, so we'll cross those two off. A long reliever like Karstens, Rasner, or Ohlendorf would be wasted on a team with a seven-man bullpen. Chris Britton is fat, and was a very solid reliever at the MLB level last year for Baltimore, so he should get a spot. Colter Bean is also fat, but his time has come and gone in AAA, and his control has become a concern, so he's out. T.J. Beam is an intriguing prospect, but not as much as Jose Veras or the hard-throwing Brian Bruney. Veras had a very strong season in AAA last year, but Bruney is a much better prospect with better stuff, and is also out of minor-league options, which forces the Yankees' collective hand. So, while Bruney's control is very questionable, his velocity and K rates earn him the last spot in this bullpen.

Final bullpen: Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor, Chris Britton, Luis Vizcaino, Ron Villone, Brian Bruney.

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