40 Man Roster Additions and Subtractions: Mesa, Ring, Gaudin

The Yankees did a few roster-spot saving moves in order to prepare themselves for free agency and the Rule V Draft.

First of all, as of now, every Yankees that was eligible to be a free agent is no longer on the 40 man roster - this means Kerry Wood, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Javier Vazquez, Lance Berkman, Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns, Derek Jeter, Chad Moeller, and Marcus Thames.

Furthermore, they outrighted two players off of the roster - Royce Ring and Chad Gaudin, allowing them both to become free agents.

Finally, they added one player to the 40 man roster in order to protect from being a minor league free agent. They added 23-year-old outfielder Melky Mesa to the roster. Mesa hit .260/.338/.475 with 19 homeruns and 49 total extra base hits in 446 at-bats last year with Single-A Tampa. He would have been a six-year minor league free agent had he not been added to the roster.