I went into the woods for almost 3 months. When I left, Derek Jeter was slumping, Hideki Matsui was finished, A.J. Burnett was a busted contract, and the Yankees were trailing the Red Sox in the division. Things have changed.

One of the best parts about September (for me at least) is seeing who the Yankees choose to bring up when rosters expand. With a 7.5 game lead in the division, the Yankees should be able to get these guys some real playing time. Who can we expect?

The No-Doubters

Francisco Cervelli – There is an argument to be made that he is a better backup catcher than Jose Molina. The Yankees will do their best to get Jorge Posada rest during the lead up to the playoffs, and Cervelli is the perfect player to fill that role.

Mark Melancon – Really, he’s better than Brian Bruney anyway. Melancon will be auditioning for a playoff role.

Juan Miranda – He’ll be up for a lot of reasons. The Yankees may want to show him off to other teams as trade bait. They’ll use him to rest Mark Teixeira a bit, and to pinch hit. And finally, Miranda has been a polite organizational soldier despite being blocked at his only position, and deserves the call up.

Ramiro Pena – He’s back, and in the mix for a bench spot in the playoffs.

Anthony Claggett – Claggett has had a pretty good season for Scranton, and spent some time in the Majors earlier this year. He’ll provide long relief help and maybe even a spot start or two.

The Probably-Maybe’s

Jon Albaladejo - He was pretty bad the last time out, but has had a rock-solid minor league season. The knock against him is that he is somewhere on the brink of being designated for assignment.

Shelly Duncan – In the same boat as Albaladejo.

The Maybe-Nots

Michael Dunn - He’s heading down to the Arizona Fall League. The Yankees will probably want him down in their instructional league.

Ian Kennedy - Kennedy is just beginning his rehab. For service time reasons, the team will stay away from bringing him back to the majors.

The Rule V Guys

Ivan Nova - Nova will be added to the 40-man roster immediately following the season. You can be sure of that. Nova was selected and returned last offseason, and the Yankees aren’t about to risk him again. If they want to get him acclimatized to the majors, they may just add him a month early and let him sit in the bullpen and breathe the same air as Mariano Rivera.

Zach Kroenke – If not added to the 40-man roster, Kroenke will definitely be selected by some team and play in the majors next year. He could probably equal Phil Coke’s production. They may add Kroenke and audition him either for a serious look in spring training next year or a trade.

Austin Jackson - Ditto on everything said for Jackson, though it is probably more likely that we’ll see him work out with the Yankees as a non-roster player, as the Yankees have done with top prospects over the past few years.