--RHP Darrell Rasner will be skipped in the rotation because of Friday's rainout -- costing him a shot to start against the Mets, whom he had suffered a season-ending injury last season -- and will be used out of the bullpen this weekend. The Yankees decided to go with LHP Andy Pettitte for Saturday's game and will most likely slide Rasner back into the rotation Wednesday.

--LHP Andy Pettitte will take on Mets ace Johan Santana on Saturday because of Friday's rainout -- a matchup that will feature one pitcher who kept his club from attaining the other. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has said Pettitte's decision to return this year helped the GM decide to resist the Santana trade with the Twins in the offseason.

--RF Bobby Abreu has cooled off after a hot start, and the Yankees need him to get going again if their punchless offense is to improve. Abreu has only six hits in his last 32 at-bats, a .187 clip.

--3B Alex Rodriguez will make his long-awaited appearance in an extended spring training game Saturday. The Yankees hope his progress keeps him on track to finish rehabbing his strained right quadriceps muscle and return Tuesday.

--RHP Kyle Farnsworth has not yielded a run in his last six appearances, trimming his ERA to 2.84 in the process. The Yankees would be pleased if Farnsworth's resurgence continues and allows them to use him in the eighth inning if they decided to move RHP Joba Chamberlain to the rotation later this season, as they've discussed.

BY THE NUMBERS
46,000,194 -- Dollars the Yankees have invested in Japanese import Kei Igawa, who posted a 6.25 ERA last season and looked even worse in his first start this year.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"If he wants to yell and scream after a strikeout and dance around the mound ... My home run was in a much bigger situation ... but I didn't dance around and scream." -- Cleveland outfielder David Dellucci, who hit a game-winning homer off Joba Chamberlain one game and struck out the next, on Chamberlain's exuberance on the mound.

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