Preview of the opening day lineup today in Tampa?

On the heels of record television ratings for the 2009 Spring Training home opener on Thursday, the YES Network jumps right back on the horse with a matinee matchup between the Twins and the Yankees at 1:15 PM today.

As a treat for the sold out crowd at Steinbrenner Field and the large weekend viewership at home on YES, the Yankees have decided to break out the big guns. Courtesy of MLB.com Yankee beat reporter Bryan Hoch:

Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jose Molina C
Melky Cabrera CF

Joba Chamberlain RHP

Aside from Melky getting the nod over Gardner, there is a VERY good chance you are looking at the lineup and starting pitcher for the April 16 home opener in the Bronx. Obviously, the Yankees would prefer to have Jorge catching the home opener with Molina on the bench and Matsui at DH, but there are no guarantees that Posada's shoulder will be ready or that Matsui's knee will be good to go. My preference would be to bat Swisher ahead of Cano in this lineup, but that change would be unlikely to create any tangible difference in runs scored over the course of a season.

Should be a fun one to watch. Don't forget to check out the Stadium Insider Spring Training '09 broadcast schedule for SOPCAST/TV Ants links for the games, and for the upcoming games that you will be able to watch or listen to.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

2009 Yankees Spring Training TV and Radio Schedule (now with SOPCAST and TV Ants links)

I'll be sure to post the full 2009 Yankees Spring Training TV schedule later. For now, I'm posting this from the mobile device so I'll be short and to the point. Yankees baseball returns to YES on February 26 (just a little over two weeks away!) as the Yankees will take on their bitter AL East rival - the Tampa Bay Rays. Just like last year, I'll do my best to post SOPCAST links for everyone at work or out of town on the day of games.

UPDATE (2/10/09 5:25 PM)
As promised, here is the rest of the schedule on YES:

Date ------- Opponent ------- Time/Network ------- Sopcast Links

February 26	Tampa Bay Rays	1:15 p.m./YES HD espn Taiwan & VP20
February 28	Minnesota Twins	1:15 p.m./YES HD espn Taiwan & VP20
March 3	Team USA	1:15 p.m./YES HDVP5, 400k
March 7	Atlanta Braves	1:15 p.m./YES HDAC TV 141k espnTaiwanSOP
March 10	Cincinnati Reds	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 14	Houston Astros	1:15 p.m./YES HD
March 17	Pittsburgh Pirates	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 19	Toronto Blue Jays	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 24	Boston Red Sox	7:15 p.m./YES HD
March 26	Philadelphia Phillies	1:05 p.m./YES HD
April 3	Chicago Cubs	7:05 p.m./YES HD
April 4	Chicago Cubs	1:05 p.m./YES HD

For more information on how to use Sopcast/TV Ants, please click here and here

And here is a schedule of ALL televised Yankees games (for those of you with the sports tier on the Dish):



The MLB Network will also air three games, according to Peter Abraham's LoHud Yankees blog:

MLB Network
March 3 vs. Team USA, 1:15
March 22 at Tampa Bay, 1:05
April 3 vs. Cubs (from New York), 7:05

Two of those games overlap with coverage on YES, the only one not overlapping being the March 22 game.

Still no word on the ESPN games , so there will likely be more. Abraham says that ESPN will not be doing any exhibition games, but ESPN is airing a game between the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves on February 26. Perhaps he means they won't be covering any YANKEE exhibition games.

Finally, there is radio coverage for many of the games on WCBS 880 in New York:

WCBS 880 (Radio)
Feb. 28 vs. Twins, 1:15
March 7 vs. Braves, 1:15
March 14 vs. Astros, 1:15
March 15 vs. Twins, 1:15
March 21 vs. Tigers, 1:15
March 24 vs. Red Sox, 7:15
March 27 vs. Reds, 7:15
March 29 vs. Pirates, 1:15
April 3 vs. Cubs (from New York), 7:05
April 4 vs. Cubs (from New York), 1:05

Based on a quick comparison of last year's post, it seems that there are more prime-time games this year. As of now, between YES, other local sports networks, and MLB Network, 20 Spring Training games will be televised. Nothing says baseball obsession like watching double-A players square off at Spring Training facilities in March! Read the full post, after the jump

Yankees Spring Training TV Schedule

UPDATE: 3/18 - The Virginia Tech / Yankees game will be available on MLB.TV for free and also on SOPCAST. Check the links: Available Free on MLB.tv & VP7, 400k

UPDATE: 3/6 - There is no SOPCAST link for the Yankees vs. Reds Spring Training game today. No network is televising this game, so there is nowhere to stream a SOPCAST feed from.

UPDATE: 3/2 - Instead of updating every day, I will simply post the SOPCAST link next to the game on the schedule when it becomes available, most likely the day of. For more information on Sopcast, please click here

UPDATE: 3/1 - Sopcast link for the 3/1 game @ PHI (not on TV): VP7

UPDATE: 2/25 - Games in HD are now listed!

As of now, these games will be televised (SOPCAST LINKS ADDED DAY OF):

3/2 - 1:15 PM vs. PHI on YES HD SOPCAST - VP7
3/3 - 1:05 PM @ HOU no TV SOPCAST - CLICK HERE
3/5 - 1:15 PM vs. MIN on YES/ESPN HD SOPCAST - CLICK HERE or HERE
3/7 - 1:15 PM vs HOU on YES HD SOPCAST - VP20/CNY Sports
3/8 - 1:15 PM vs TB on YES HD SOPCAST - CNY Sports
3/9 - 1:05 PM @ MIN no TV SOPCAST - CLICK HERE (390 kbps) or HERE (741 kbps)
3/10 - 7:15 PM vs CIN no TV SOPCAST - CLICK HERE (390 kbps) or HERE (741 kbps)
3/11 - 1:15 PM vs. TOR on YES HD
3/13 - 1:15 PM vs. PIT on YES HD SOPCAST - VP20/CNY Sports
3/15 - 1:15 PM (ss) vs. TB on YES HD
3/16 - 1:15 PM vs. CLE on YES HD SOPCAST - CLICK HERE (390 kbps) or HERE (741 kbps)
3/17 - 1:15 PM vs. BOS on YES HD SOPCAST - CLICK HERE (250 kbps) or HERE (389 kbps) or even HERE (741 kbps)
3/18 - 3:00 PM @ Virginia Tech (in Blacksburg, VA) on YES Available Free on MLB.tv SOPCAST - CLICK HERE (400 kbps)
3/20 - 1:05 PM @ TOR on YES/ESPN SOPCAST - VP20/CNY Sports, 280k VLC Req! & aakaminski
3/22 - 1:15 PM vs. TOR on YES HD SOPCAST - VP20 (VLC req.)
3/23 - 1:05 PM @ PIT on YES SOPCAST - VP20/CNY Sports, 280k VLC Req!
3/25 - 1:05 PM @ CLE on YES
3/27 - 1:15 PM vs. PIT on YES HD

Strangely enough, the Yankees play the last two games of Spring Training at Dolphins Stadium, both night games and neither are televised. There is NOT ONE night game televised this spring.

link to schedule

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump