Girardi Unsure About Soriano's Role When He Returns

From Alden Gonzalez:

Tuesday was the day Rafael Soriano made his first rehab appearance since landing on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation on May 17. But it wasn't the day Yankees manager Joe Girardi would say with any certainty that Soriano will reclaim his job as setup man upon returning.

The way Girardi sees it, there's no need to jump the gun.

"Look, I'm not saying what I'm going to do or what I'm not going to do," Girardi explained prior to the second game of a four-game series against the Rays. "The biggest thing is I have to get this guy healthy and know how he's throwing the baseball. If he's throwing the baseball the way that he's capable of, I've got a great thing going, because I have two guys that can do the same job. And that's a great problem to have."

...

When asked on Thursday in Toronto if Soriano would be his setup man when activated, Girardi said: "Let's just see. Let's just get him back first."

Five days later, the manager's thoughts essentially remained the same.

"We have to see how he's throwing and how he's feeling before I can make any determination," Girardi said. "The big thing is we have to get him back healthy and throwing the way that he's capable of. We'll just see what happens. But we have to get him back first."

For now, I think D-Rob has earned the right to keep the setup role. If Soriano comes back and shows he can regain his form from the last few seasons, then it becomes a decision that has to be made, but until then I'd have Soriano in the 7th, D-Rob in the 8th, and of course, Mo in the 9th.