By Sean Yuille – Managing Editor

Read More: CC Sabathia (P – NYY), Justin Verlander (P – DET), New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers

Follow , and Like SB Nation Detroit on Facebook.

Mar 31, 2011 - Assuming the weather cooperates, the Detroit Tigers will have their Opening Day festivities begin this afternoon in New York against the Yankees. Today is the first day of the Major League Baseball season, and Detroit is set to play at 1:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

The starting pitchers for today’s season-opening game are Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia. Verlander had a tremendous spring for Detroit, pitching 28.0 innings and allowing only three earned runs. That was good for an ERA of 0.96. He will look to carry that great pitching into the regular season. New York’s Sabathia will also look to carry momentum from his best spring training (numbers-wise) in years into the regular season.

Here is a look at the lineups for today’s game:

Detroit Tigers

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Will Rhymes, 2B
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Ryan Raburn, LF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Brandon Inge, 3B
9. Alex Avila, C

New York Yankees

1. Brett Gardner, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Jorge Posada, DH
8. Curtis Granderson, CF
9. Russell Martin, C

Today’s game between the Tigers and Yankees will be broadcast on ESPN and FS Detroit. Sean McDonough, Aaron Boone and Rick Sutcliffe will serve as the announcers for ESPN’s broadcast, and Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian will be in attendance as reporters. As always, Mario Impemba and Rod Allen will call the game for FS Detroit.

The first pitch of the season is set to be thrown at 1:05 p.m., shortly after former Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina delivers the ceremonial first pitch.

For more coverage of the Tigers all season long, make sure to visit Bless You Boys. Also, make sure to stop by Baseball Nation, SB Nation’s new hub for MLB.

NEW YORK (AP) — An unusual thing happened to the New York Yankees this winter: They lost.

Sure, the billion-dollar franchise occasionally loses in the postseason. What the Yankees never do is fail in the offseason.

That is until now.

After being beaten by Cliff Lee and the younger, more hungry-looking Texas Rangers in the American League championship series, the Yankees lost out on Lee, this year’s most coveted free agent. They lost in the public eye during Derek Jeter’s contract negotiations and, most importantly, the Yankees lost to the rival Boston Red Sox in offseason moves.

Then, right before training camp opened, rotation stalwart Andy Pettitte retired — leaving the Core Four a tiring trio.

“Every year’s separate, every year’s a challenge,” Jeter said. “There’s nothing more this year as opposed to any other year.”

Despite the Captain’s ever-positive outlook, the Yankees have sounded more like a bickering franchise on the decline than the powerhouse of the AL East.

What should be a feel-good season celebrating Jeter as he becomes the first player in a Yankees uniform to reach 3,000 hits — he’s 74 away — got off to a rough start when General Manager Brian Cashman took several shots in the tabloids at the shortstop during surprisingly contentious contract negotiations.

Cashman also uncharacteristically exclaimed publicly he was against giving AL saves leader Rafael Soriano a $35 million, three-year contract — and forfeiting a first-round draft pick to the right-hander’s former team, the Tampa bay Rays — to be Mariano Rivera’s setup man in the one big free-agent move by the Yankees.

And heading into New York’s first full season without George Steinbrenner looming over every aspect of the organization, Hank Steinbrenner proved he has the same bluster as his dad but little of the bite. Jeter laughed off Hank’s comments in the first week of spring training about unnamed players building mansions instead of focusing on winning last year. Jeter just completed a 30,000 square foot house in Tampa, Fla., called “St. Jetersburg” by the locals.

“There’s always things said around here, there’s always stories,” Jeter said.

The negativity could carry over to the regular season if the Yankees don’t perform on the field where there are significant questions for the ballclub that accepts nothing less than a World Series championship.

The most glaring problems lie in the shaky pitching staff.

Coming off a season in which A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez were dreadful, the Yankees went hard after Lee, who has dominated them the past two postseasons. He chose the Phillies.

The last time such a high profile player spurned New York’s very public pitch was before the 1993 season, when Greg Maddux chose the Braves over Broadway.

With Pettitte announcing his retirement two weeks before training camp opened, the Yankees — and new pitching coach Larry Rothschild — were left with a three-man rotation and only one sure thing heading into camp: CC Sabathia (21-7, 3.18 ERA).

Burnett, the No. 2 starter, bombed last season, going 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA and a league-leading 19 hit batters, 16 wild pitches, two cut hands thanks to an angry clubhouse outburst after a poor start and one mysterious black eye. The $82.5 million pitcher was skipped over in the AL division playoffs.

Phil Hughes was a bright spot winning 18 games and an All-Star selection in his first full season as a starter. But the 24-year-old faded after the break: 7-6 with one victory in relief.

One side effect from not winning the Lee sweepstakes and Pettitte’s departure: New York will open the season with a payroll less than $200 million for the first time since 2007.

Too late to secure another topflight free agent, Cashman went cheap, bringing in aging All-Stars Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon to compete with youngster Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre for the final two spots in the rotation.

Nothing beats that brand-new car smell. Breathe it in, Tiger fans.

Detroit kicks off a fresh season today against the Yankees in New York, and The Cutoff Man’s James Schmehl will be blogging it live, beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Join Schmehl and Tigers bloggers Ian Casselberry and Matt Sussman for live play-by-play analysis and up-to-the-minute updates as Justin Verlander takes the mound and newcomer Victor Martinez makes his regular-season debut with the Tigers.

Also, don’t forget to set your alarm and mark your calendar for the Cutoff Man’s next live blog, set for 1 p.m. on Monday, April 4 as the Tigers visit the Baltimore Orioles in their series opener. Click here for the complete Cutoff Man live chat schedule this season.

You will discover an array of different nfl wholesale jerseys in existence currently available but not each of them is developed similarly, both in terms of that sewing as well as the design and style per se. Sometimes the particular colors of your respective soccer uniforms provide an enormous effect on the kind of message some people pout all over to help people.

Your sports uniforms that your team has won have to intimidate other online players though instilling a feeling associated with self-assurance actually need to run men and women. A person’s soccer uniforms really need to maintain your fans shut along with the some other groups at bay, there exists a lot of mindsets concerned I this selecting the best soccer uniforms on your workforce. You shouldn’t get this selection casually simply because this is a significant determination that will impact just how the crew does out within the area.

Look at the item using this method, when you set a person’s group out there in sports uniforms which are most lilac as well as cozy, what would you imagine would materialize? Would you believe that anybody, whether it is alternative squads as well as your followers, might have a person’s crew significantly? Of course not necessarily, sometimes those competitors independently could have problems using effectively inside a majority of these basketball uniforms. That is why your uniforms that you select ought to be so excellent. They have to help to make that competitors feel safe and sturdy; they have to realize these people bode well and also good whenever they are generally around within the arena. As long as they experience the idea they’ll be the item, it’s as common as which.

You’ll find a myriad of locations when you can receive a person’s sports uniforms, via significant companies including Nike or perhaps Adidas produce these individuals and many of the even bigger Football clubs will get these companies to create their particular Football uniforms. It’s likely you will certainly not manage to have the funds for such extravagant basketball uniforms on your group why not really endeavor to obtain your own wholesale jerseys nfl on-line. The online world wonderful location wherever you save hundreds of money on the soccer uniforms, if you have possibly not seemed generally there to your soccer wants still subsequently it can be about time that you got about more than now there right now.

Usually when you use the online world in your football uniforms it will be easy of choice just the most effective they usually cost a tiny proportion regarding what you would usually need to pay. You may also manage to locate all those significant brand names with soccer uniforms during discounted charges. It can be certainly well worth a hit when you find yourself considering different soccer uniforms.

NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) – The New York Yankees are $200 million underdogs in the eyes of handicappers picking the Boston Red Sox to be World Series champions this season, and that has lit a fire under some of the Bronx Bombers.

“Maybe we can sneak up on somebody,” pitcher CC Sabathia told reporters at his locker Wednesday on the eve of his start in New York’s Opening Day game against the Detroit Tigers.

“I find it kind of crazy what I hear, after what we’ve done,” said the big left-hander, who helped the Yankees win the 2009 World Series and reach last year’s American League championship.

Boston went on a stunning off-season shopping spree that made them a popular pick to leapfrog the Yankees.

They snapped up speedy free agent outfielder Carl Crawford for seven years at $142 million, then traded prospects to San Diego for slugger Adrian Gonzalez, who will also command over $20 million a year for a pact they still are negotiating.

The usually free-spending Yankees were quiet as mice by comparison but could be laying in ambush.

Said outfielder Nick Swisher: “I think that’s the greatest thing ever, so when we do it we can prove them all wrong.”

Power-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira, who spurned the Red Sox to sign an eight-year $180 million Yankees deal before the 2009 campaign, said this spring: “We’re the underdogs this year. I love it. No one is picking us right now.”

Manager Joe Girardi knows the pressure of leading a team with an MLB record 27 World Series crowns and was bemused about the rallying cry against the Red Sox, whose $160 million budget will grow much closer to New York’s after signing Gonzalez.

“This is a motivated group on a daily basis anyway,” Girardi said. “I haven’t really heard any talk from our guys about not being favored to win, or being the underdogs.

“(But) That’s not a bad thing,” he said about being snubbed by prognosticators.

“Maybe you don’t have as much attention drawn to your club during spring training. Maybe guys don’t feel the weight of the expectations so much. Sometimes when you’re the underdog you go under the radar a little bit.”

Yet Girardi, a catcher on Yankee teams that began a run of success with a World Series title in 1996 and four more crowns and two other trips to the Fall Classic since, acknowledged his pinstriped squad would not go overlooked.

“I don’t think we’re going to sneak up on anyone,” he said. “People are always pretty excited when we come into town.”

© Copyright (c) Reuters

By Ed Valentine – Regional Editor

Read More: Curtis Granderson (CF – NYY)

Follow , and Like SB Nation New York on Facebook.

Mar 30, 2011 - The New York Yankees have finalized their 25-man Opening Day roster in advance of Thursday’s season opener at Yankee Stadium against the Detroit Tigers (1:05 p.m., YES). The biggest news is that it appears starting center fielder Curtis Granderson, nursing an oblique injury the past week or so of Spring Training, should be in the lineup against Detroit’s Justin Verlander.

Let’s break down the 25-man roster the Yankees will introduce Thursday afternoon — weather permitting, of course.

Starters
C: Russell Martin
1B: Mark Teixeira
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Derek Jeter
LF: Brett Gardner
CF: Curtis Granderson
RF: Nick Swisher
DH: Jorge Posada

Comment: The big issue with this group is how Joe Girardi will set the lineup. All spring the question has been whether Brett Gardner or Derek Jeter will lead off. The answer is, in reality, both guys will depending on who is playing and whether a lefty or righty is pitching. For me, that is no big deal. I have another question. It look like Robinson Cano will stay in the fifth slot, where he hit last season. Why isn’t Cano, the best pure hitter on the team, batting third with Mark Teixeira, perfect protection for Alex Rodriguez as a switch-hitter, in the five-hole?

Bench
IF: Eduardo Nunez
IF: Eric Chavez
OF: Andruw Jones
C: Gustavo Molina

Comment: No one saw Gustavo Molina opening the season as the backup catcher. He will likely be around until Francisco Cervelli recovers from his broken foot. Eric Chavez, a former star with Oakland whose career has been derailed by injuries, made the team as a caddy for Rodriguez and Teixeira at the corners. If he can stay healthy Chavez should give the Yankees the ability to keep Rodriguez fresh throughout the season. Nunez took the middle infield job away from incumbent Ramiro Pena.

Rotation
LHP CC Sabathia
RHP A.J. Burnett
RHP Phil Hughes
RHP Ivan Nova
RHP Freddy Garcia

Comment: With this group, there is lots of pressure on CC Sabathia. He is an ace, and he needs to pitch like one. A.J. Burnett is the nominal No. 2 starter, and the Yankees need for him to pitch like it — not like the guy who went 10-15 with an ERA above 5.00 a year ago. Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia start the season as the fourth and fifth starters. Somehow, I don’t think they finish it that way.

Bullpen
RHP Mariano Rivera
RHP Rafael Soriano
RHP Joba Chamberlain
RHP David Robertson
RHP Bartolo Colon
LHP Boone Logan
RHP Luis Ayala

Comment: Ayala got the final spot, which opened due to lefty specialist Pedro Feliciano being placed on the disabled list. The Yankees signed Feliciano to get big outs late in games, and because of his durability during eight years with the Mets. Let’s hope this is not a bad sign. With Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano at the end of games, the Yankees should be pretty much a lock to win games if they can get to the seventh inning with a lead. They had better be, with the question marks surrounding their starting pitchers.

Disabled List
C Francisco Cervelli
LHP Pedro Feliciano