THE YANKEES & THE PANAMA SERIES

This is a cool little thing that the Yankees are doing in Mariano Rivera's native Panama.  There will be a series in Panama and the Yanks have set their roster for the series. They'll be playing the Marlins in what is being called the "Legends Series" on the 15th of March.

According to Paul Hagen of MLB.com, the roster the Yanks are taking there is as follows:

"The complete Panama roster:

 Pitchers: Cesar Cabral, Robert Coello, Preston Claiborne, Matt Daley, Chris Leroux, Jim Miller, David Robertson, Sabathia, Yoshinori Tateyama, Warren, Chase Whitley


Catchers: Cervelli, Jose Gil, John Ryan Murphy, Gary Sanchez


Infielders: Dean Anna, Jeter, Corban Joseph, Jose Pirela, Yangervis Solarte, Zelous Wheeler  

 Outfielders: Zoilo Almonte, Carlos Beltran, Adonis Garcia, Brett Gardner, Antoan Richardson, Alfonso Soriano"

Joe Girardi said he wanted Brian McCann to stay back to prep for the regular season.  "I just thought it worked better if [McCann] stayed here seeing our starters." OK. Makes sense.

Joe also spoke of the Panama series:  "We know what the Yankees mean to Mo, and we know what his country means. To be able to combine the two is really special. Because Mo goes home every winter and sees family. He loved his time there...For me, if I was ever able to bring the Yankees to East Peoria, Illinois, it would be a huge deal to me. Right? And that's in the same country. So it is a huge deal."

Even yesterday, Dean Anna tweeted about Panama:

Excited to play out in Panama this weekend.
— Dean Anna (@DeanOfSwing) March 13, 2014

Check out two recent pieces about Dean Anna by BYB writers Steve Skinner and Erica Morales here:

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DEAN ANNA?

Anyway, not to get off track, I just wanted to keep you in the loop on Panama. It's historic and something that's happening. I'm glad they could do something like this.

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