Source: New York Times

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 22 — There were cheers for the past at Legends Field on Thursday when fans saluted Andy Pettitte. There was the intrigue of the unknown, when Kei Igawa took the mound. But mostly, there was the promise of youth.

The Yankees’ five regular starters threw batting practice, and when they were done, Phil Hughes and Humberto Sánchez did the same. They are the Yankees’ two prized pitching prospects, and they did not disappoint.

Hughes threw 34 pitches, and the hitters put two in play. Sánchez was a bit wild, but Jason Giambi guessed that he threw 96 miles an hour. Hughes and Sánchez are the cornerstones of the Yankees’ emphasis on young pitching.

“From the first day when we all walked in, it looked like a corral — just a bunch of horses,” the backup catcher Todd Pratt said. “I’d be pretty happy if I was Mr. Cashman.”

Brian Cashman, the general manager, has no plans to put Hughes or Sánchez in the majors out of camp. But Hughes, especially, drew raves. He might be the best pitching prospect in baseball.

“He’s the real deal,” Giambi said. “He’s unbelievable. Great composure, great tempo. We could have used him last year. You forget he’s, what, 20? He reminds me of a young Rocket.”

Giambi was referring to Roger Clemens. He never actually faced a young Clemens, but that did not seem to matter. This was a day to gaze hopefully to the future. Pratt compared Hughes to a young Curt Schilling, whom he caught in Philadelphia, and a younger Brett Myers.

“You’ve just got to sit back and look at yourself in the mirror,” Hughes said. “It’s great to hear those comparisons. They feel good, but it really doesn’t mean much.”

Hughes has dominated the minors since the Yankees made him their first pick in the 2004 draft. He is 21-7 with a 2.13 earned run average in 47 games, but has never pitched above Class AA. The only thing he seems to lack is experience, and a refined slider. His fastball, curveball and changeup are outstanding.

“Hughes is just special,” said Ben Davis, who caught him Thursday. “I’m not mocking anyone on the team; I’m just saying the way the ball comes out of his hand is different than the way it comes out of other people’s hands. I mean, his fastball explodes and his curveball is devastating. That’s the only word I can say: devastating.

“The four-seam fastball away is pretty much your only shot. You miss it, you’re done. He’s got that kind of stuff. The ball just gets on you. I know what’s coming as a catcher back there, and it still surprises me how much it gets on you. He’s definitely blessed.”

Hughes says he uses his legs to generate strength, the way the best power pitchers do. But his mechanics make him seem as if he short-arms the ball, causing it to jump on hitters. Awkward swings are common.

“He’s deceptive,” the pitching coach Ron Guidry said. “Everybody knows he has great velocity, but he actually doesn’t look like he’s throwing it that hard.”

Sánchez is different. He is 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, and seems to come hurtling at the hitter. The Yankees acquired him during the off-season from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield trade.

“He’s huge,” Giambi said. “I don’t know how you let a guy like that go. I guess when you throw 96, it’s not enough to make that ballclub. In Detroit, every player throws 100.”

Sánchez said the Yankees were a better fit for him than the Tigers, who have a staff of young starters in their prime. It is also a natural fit, because Sánchez grew up in the South Bronx.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Sánchez moved to New York with his parents at age 10. In the Dominican, his mother worked at an airport and his father for a newspaper. In New York, his mother found work as a maid, and his father worked for a company that made brakes for trains.

Sánchez loved baseball as a child — “It’s all I could think about,” he said — and his favorite player was Lee Smith, the longtime closer who saved 478 games, the second-highest career total in baseball. Sánchez did not know then that he would grow up to be almost exactly the same size as Smith.

“He threw gas, bro,” Sánchez said. “When you’re a kid, you like that stuff. He looked intimidating.”

Sánchez, 23, attended South Bronx High School and often went to Yankees games. Early in the 1996 season, he had a rain check and was given the choice of seeing the Chicago White Sox, the Kansas City Royals or the Seattle Mariners.

It was an easy choice. The Mariners were loaded with stars like Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Randy Johnson. Sánchez chose the Mariners game and sat in the upper deck just past first base with his younger brother. That was the night Dwight Gooden threw a no-hitter for the Yankees.

“We were standing up the whole last inning,” Sánchez said. “We were like, ‘No shot he’s gonna do it. No way, no way.’ And the last out of the game — who was it? Paul Sorrento? — popped up to short.”

Sánchez pitched once at Yankee Stadium, at a tryout in 2000. He took a line drive off the side of his right elbow and got an emergency visit to the trainers’ room in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

“It was pretty cool,” Sánchez said. “I don’t remember much of it. I was kind of in pain, trying to see if my arm was broken.”

It was not, though other arm injuries have slowed Sánchez’s progress in the minors. He reached Class AAA with the Tigers last year, going 5-3 with a 3.86 earned run average in nine starts.

Pitching to the more famous Yankees on Wednesday did not make him feel as if he had arrived. He has not been back on the field in the Bronx since that line drive at the tryout.

“It won’t settle in until I actually step into Yankee Stadium,” Sánchez said. “I’m still at Legends Field, trying to make the squad.”

Source: USA Today

Oh, good.

This spring training is so young, the Detroit pitchers have barely had time enough to blow their first bunt coverage. But already there has been unrest in the camp of the pinstripes, which is not exactly the Bronx Zoo yet but seems to be installing a few cages. And since there are few things in sport more entertaining than a good Yankee controversy — what with the New York media foaming at its minicams and printing presses — where can we apply to get updates?

The central theme of this new mini-series, of course, is how the left side of the infield is getting along. But there are subplots, too. So in case you have been out of touch, wandering the jungle or stuck on a JetBlue flight, here's your Yankee soap opera summary.

(Starring, in order of appearance, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield, Joe Torre, Bernie Williams, Brian Cashman, George Steinbrenner, Steve Swindal, Willie Randolph, Carlos Delgado and Bill Clinton).

Alex still likes Derek.

Derek still likes Alex.

But Alex said he and Derek aren't best pals the way they used to be. Which, presumably, means no more sleepovers, ordering pizza, talking about girls or making S'mores together. One theory is this happened because Alex got tired of being asked all the time if he wanted to see Derek's collection of World Series rings. But maybe not.

Anyway, Derek said it was no big deal and he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Neither does Alex, who seems as relieved to get this off his chest as a guy walking out of a confession booth.

So now the Yankees have gone back to getting ready for the season. I thought they were in the market for more pitching, but it turns out they apparently could also use new best buddies for Alex and Derek.

Whether any of this should matter when it comes time for a couple of 30-something guys to produce in the ninth inning against the Red Sox is not clear. But wouldn't we all feel better if Alex and Derek were chums again? That way, when they go out to dinner, they'd only need one limo.

There's more. Gary's not a Yankee anymore, but he's still mad that Joe benched him for a playoff game against the Tigers. That's what Gary told the New York Post. Joe made him feel bad, sending him out there before the game to be with the rest of the spare tires. Gary doesn't do spare tires very well.

Meanwhile, Bernie doesn't feel very good, either. He seems to think the Yankees don't want him anymore. That's because Brian won't give Bernie the contract he wants. Joe says he thinks Bernie's feelings have been hurt. Of course, Joe came close to being sent out himself with last season's laundry.

No word from George, or even his publicist, about whether he wants Alex to like Derek or Derek to like Alex, or how he feels about losing Gary and maybe Bernie. Or even if he's mad at Steve, his son-in-law and partner, who had to be bailed out of jail the other morning after allegedly driving the streets of Florida with too much of a liquor store in his blood stream.

What George might be worried about is how good Willie and Carlos and all the other guys are looking over at the Mets' camp. Since George knows, like the rest of us, that the last time the Yankees won a championship, the president of the United States was named Bill.

That was so long ago, Alex and Derek were close enough to share the same bubble gum. Now what they share mostly is an infield, and headlines.

Source: CBS Sportsline

Feb. 22, 2007
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

TAMPA, Fla. -- Let me ask you something.

When Barry Bonds wrapped his hands around Jeff Kent's throat in the middle of that game in 2002 and was pulled away before he made like a crumpled Pepsi can with Kent, do you recall which team went on to win the National League and play in the World Series that fall?

Yep, the San Francisco Fightin' Giants.

When Steve Garvey and Don Sutton went at it in 1978, leaving Garvey with a black eye and Sutton with a bruised cheek, remember who represented the NL in the World Series that October?

Yep, the Los Angeles Dukin' Dodgers.

So there is no play date scheduled for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. No graham crackers and milk. They won't be sharing a bowl of Goldfish anytime soon.

So what?


New York manager Joe Torre enters his 12th season. (AP)
So Derek's no longer McDreamy in New York because he didn't take the bait after A-Rod got all clumsy (again) and dragged Jeter under the spotlight. Instead of sending flowers, Jeter professed that he was "annoyed." I don't blame him.

This whole thing is stuff for Liz Smith, not Red Smith. Who cares?

Time was when Reggie Jackson was more distasteful than liver and onions to Thurman Munson. They still managed to win two World Series' together in the Bronx in 1977 and 1978. And Rodriguez and Jeter both are professional and well-schooled enough that they're not going to come to blows, like Garvey-Sutton or Bonds-Kent.

A-Rod has been all left turns since arriving in New York, and no question his situation long since has passed Loonyville. When he's getting ripped for sunning himself in Central Park, something thousands of other New Yorkers eagerly do each summer, it's reached the theatre of the absurd.

But, what, a public ordination from Jeter is going to keep A-Rod from spitting the bit in the clutch? Pope Jeter blesses A-Rod with the sign of the cross, and now A-Rod rakes in October?

If that's what a grown man making $25 million a year needs, then the problems extend far beyond a relationship issue with one teammate.

Captain of the Yankees or not, if Jeter needs to administer a hug and a pet, he should just go out and get himself a dog.

New Yankees first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was a high school classmate of A-Rod's. They were best buddies when they were 16. Quarterback A-Rod used to look for wide receiver Mientkiewicz under the Friday night lights in the fall, then they'd all go hang out at Mientkiewicz's house and eat and talk about sports and girls and other things high school boys discuss.

Guess what? A-Rod and Mientkiewicz are not going out to dinner every night down here, either. They are men now, not boys. There are wives and kids to spend time with when the day's work is finished.

Rodriguez's comments about Jeter to Esquire magazine in 2001 were both arrogant and stupid. There is no taking words back. They're out there.

Jeter's refusal to throw Rodriguez a public bone maybe isn't the most compassionate and mature thing he's ever done.

But the notion that these two must give each other public back rubs in order for the Yankees to win and for A-Rod to succeed is the most ridiculous thing this side of another George Steinbrenner statement.

As general manager Brian Cashman points out, it isn't like the Cold War between the two just started, and A-Rod won an MVP award the year before last while playing alongside Jeter.

So, no, as New York chooses sides, Cashman is not considering interceding and arranging a play date between his two marquee infielders.

"It's just noise," he told me Thursday, correctly.

In perhaps the most impossible city in the world to do so, Jeter has mastered the art of keeping his private life private. His Flavor of the Month romances -- Mariah Carey, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel -- his inner-most thoughts, his relationships with teammates, nothing escapes from his lock box. Jeter once was close to then-teammate Chuck Knoblauch, too. Then they had a falling out and Jeter iced him. Details? Under lock and key, to this day.

Jeter, 32, is exceptional at compartmentalizing, and if that's what helps make him tick -- captain or no captain -- then he's earned the right to keep doing things his way. Joe DiMaggio did OK keeping things private.

I'll tell you who also didn't need to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Paul O'Neill, that's who. And Tino Martinez. Scott Brosius never needed to share. Bernie Williams didn't need to step from the playing field to a psychiatrist's couch.

All this nonsense does is reinforce how unique and special those 1996-2000 Yankees clubs were. Williams' apparent departure for good this spring -- no guaranteed big league job, so he's still not here -- signifies the end of an era. The class and grace that went with those Yankees finally has been overtaken by insecurity and ham-handedness.

At 31, Rodriguez still doesn't have a sense of who he is. He remains a lost ball in tall weeds. That doesn't make him a bad person. It doesn't mean he'll never figure it out.

But there is something to be said for helping yourself before you can accept help from others.

This one issue is not a litmus test of Jeter's leadership skills as captain, just as Rodriguez being dropped to eighth in the batting order last October was not a referendum on the totality of his career.

Frosty relations between the two make for lots of juice and terrific people watching. What it won't do is prohibit the Yankees from winning. If you would have seen top pitching prospects Phillip Hughes and Humberto Sanchez throw live batting practice to Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui and others under a warm Florida sun Thursday morning, you'd know that a Yankees team once in danger of aging too rapidly now -- finally -- has more where Chien-Ming Wang came from.

"He's like a young Rocket," said Giambi, referring to Roger Clemens, in the signature quote that will be attached to Hughes for years to come. "The ball jumps out of his hand."

How quickly Hughes progresses, the health of Andy Pettitte's elbow, Mike Mussina's consistency, closer Mariano Rivera fending off old age, Matsui's wrist remaining in one piece ... all of these issues are far more relevant to the Yankees winning than whether Jeter and A-Rod are buds.

"It's usually not short for stories around here, that's for sure," said Pettitte in a circus-never-left-town while he was playing for Houston moment Thursday morning. "You look at it, and you grin. It never, hopefully, affects things going on, how we perform."

It won't. Here, nobody is in charge of bringing juice boxes and orange slices after the game. This isn't a high school dance.

People need to grow up and realize that.

Source: CBS Sportsline

TAMPA, Fla. -- Five things to know about the New York Yankees:

1. The everyday lineup is set, with the possible exception of first base, where veteran Doug Mientkiewicz and Andy Phillips will do battle this spring. The expectation is that Mientkiewicz will be the first baseman and Jason Giambi the designated hitter on most nights. Mientkiewicz is coming off of back surgery but he isn't as out of sorts from that as you might imagine. "Easiest surgery I've ever had," he says. "I didn't even have a stitch when I was finished. Not one stitch." Though he batted .283 with four homers and 43 RBI in 91 games in Kansas City last season, here's an unusual stat: Remove his struggles against the Chicago White Sox from the equation (2-for-25) and he would have batted .301.

2. Closer Mariano Rivera has quieted down after early-camp complaints about the Yankees' refusal to talk about a contract extension with him this spring. Rivera can become a free agent after the season. With Bernie Williams likely gone, Rivera's future uncertain, catcher Jorge Posada's contract up after this season and the possibility that Alex Rodriguez could opt out after this season, there could be some anxious moments in the Yankees clubhouse this summer. Which isn't always a bad thing, in terms of motivation.

3. The road to the title really does go through the Bronx: The Yankees rang up their 15th consecutive winning season in Yankee Stadium last summer (50-31). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the longest current home streak of any of the 30 major league clubs and the longest in the majors since Houston compiled 15 consecutive winning seasons in the Astrodome from 1976-90. Yankees nemesis Boston currently is next with nine consecutive winning seasons at home.

4. No question, the biggest key to the spring is keeping the starting pitchers healthy. The projected opening day rotation is Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Kei Igawa and either Carl Pavano or rookie Philip Hughes. You've gotta think Hughes has a real good chance to make the jump from Double-A to the majors, because Pavano -- who hasn't pitched in a big league game since June 2005 -- is more fragile than a carton of eggs. He actually sat out of fielding drills the other day because of "heavy legs." How do the Yankees feel about him so blatantly stealing their money? Even Mussina said the other day that the Yankees want Pavano to go out and "show us he wants to do this."

5. Tough opening of manager Joe Torre's 12th season: He was stricken with a virus the other day, was bedridden, missed a workout and he's still fighting off the effects. But he has this going for him: He's currently navigating the longest uninterrupted tenure of any Yankees manager since Casey Stengel was the skipper for 12 seasons in a row between 1949 and 1960.

Source: NJ Star-Ledger

Friday, February 23, 2007
BY ED PRICE
Star-Ledger Staff

TAMPA, Fla. -- Todd Pratt got a good look yesterday at the Yankees' hopes for the present and the not-so-distant future.

Star prospect Phil Hughes earned rave reviews, as Yankees pitchers threw batting practice to their teammates. But when it comes to the Yankees' fate this season, it may have been more significant that Carl Pavano also was sharp.

"Pavano was like he was with Florida when I faced him," Pratt said. "Good split, good sinker, good slider."

And Hughes? He's "one of the dirtiest young pitchers I've ever caught, seen or faced."

Seven pitchers -- the projected rotation (Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Kei Igawa and Pavano) plus Hughes and Humberto Sanchez -- threw on the main diamond at Legends Field as manager Joe Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and general manager Brian Cashman watched.

Pratt caught Igawa and Pavano and batted against Hughes and Sanchez.

Hughes, 20, is the Yankees' prized possession. Considered one of the top prospects in the game, he dominated Double A a year ago and is ticketed for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this year only because the Yankees have five veteran starters and don't want to rush him.

Well, the Yankees front office doesn't want to rush him.

"He's the real deal," said Jason Giambi, who had a foul ball and a pop-up on his two swings against Hughes. "We could have used him last year. Great tempo. The ball jumps out of his hand.

"He's got filthy stuff. He's like a young Rocket (Roger Clemens)."

Hughes, the Yankees' No. 1 pick in 2004, has remained calm as the hype around him as grown.

"You just have to sit back and look at yourself in the mirror," he said. "It's great to hear that, but I haven't done anything to warrant those kind of comparisons. They feel good, but it really doesn't mean much."

Said Torre: "He doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by anything. ... Sometimes young kids have a tendency to be a little anxious and want things to happen right away. But I don't sense that with him."

Hughes -- who is ahead of the other pitchers because he has been working off a mound for four weeks -- threw 34 pitches. The batters took 23, and of the other 11, they had eight foul balls, a pop-up, a grounder and a line drive by Pratt.

"He's just special," said Ben Davis, who caught Hughes. "He's definitely blessed. He's got a great mound presence. I think he knows what he has but I don't think he takes it for granted. As good as he is, I know he wants to keep getting better."

Davis was effusive about Hughes' fastball ("I know what's coming when I'm catching back there and it still just surprises me how much it gets on you") and curve ("the only way I can describe it is devastating").

When Pavano took the mound, the theme from "Rocky" came over the public-address system.

"How about that?" said Pavano, who due to injuries last pitched in the majors on June 27, 2005. "I had a little chuckle about that."

Said Torre, "I don't want to say he's anxious, but I think he's comfortable with the way he feels right now."

Pavano kept the ball down, which is the key to his game. Of the 13 pitches Pavano threw that drew a swing, he induced five foul balls, six grounders, one whiff and one fly ball. (A fastball got away and plunked minor-league shortstop Alberto Gonzalez.)

Igawa, facing hitters for the first time in a Yankees uniform, was described as "sneaky" by Torre as well as Andy Phillips and Wil Nieves, who batted against him. Igawa, who threw curves but no change-ups, described himself only as "so-so."

Pratt said Sanchez had "just as good stuff" as Hughes. But Sanchez, whose mechanics are more violent that Hughes' smooth delivery, did not have good control yesterday.

"Overall, I think it was all right," Sanchez said. "I give myself a B."

Guidry said he evaluated Sanchez by the grimace on hitters' faces as they came out of the cage.

Sanchez, listed at 6-6 and 270 pounds, came over from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield deal.

In fact, what Pratt noticed the first day of camp was the size of the pitchers.

"It looked like a corral," he said. "Just a bunch of horses."

Source: Seattle Mercury Times

By Larry Stone

The Seattle Times

TAMPA, Fla. - It doesn't quite live up to the paparazzi nirvana that is Bald Self-Destructing Britney, but the public breakup this week between Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter is pretty juicy stuff, even by Yankees soap-opera standards.

Who wasn't riveted by A-Rod's plaintive (though typically misguided) revelation that the two "blood brothers" have stopped having slumber parties, and Jeter's somewhat catty reaction that foretold an even deeper freeze ahead?

But really, it's just variations on a Bronx theme. While the names and details change, frantic upheavals are a staple of Yankees camp. Nothing to see here. Move on.

Oh, something is going on with the Yankees, all right. Something big, potentially even profound.

An era is grinding to a close. The Yankees' way of doing business is in flux.

For more than a decade, what a glorious ride it has been - four World Series titles in Joe Torre's first five years, and a core of players that have earned their place in the Yankees' pantheon: Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada.

But the signs of change are everywhere. Partly, it's the cycle of baseball. Players grow old, and they're replaced. It happened with cornerstones of the early dynasty, like Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez and Andy Pettitte (back in pinstripes after three years in Houston), and now it's happening with Williams, who refuses to come to camp as a non-roster player. Posada and Rivera, entering the final year of their contracts, could be next out the door.

As Torre said, while discussing the likelihood that Williams' Yankees career is over, "I remember when Sandy Koufax retired after winning 27 games. Guys like that walk away, the game still goes on."

Furthermore, no one would be surprised if the needy A-Rod exercised his out clause after the season and sought his happiness elsewhere, yet again.

Owners grow old, too. George Steinbrenner, at 77, is a shell of his bombastic self, by all accounts increasingly slowed by age.

Newspaper accounts of Steinbrenner's appearance here at Legends Field on the first day of camp used phrases like "limping gait," "ashen face," "mumbled," "slurred words," and "lurched" to describe him.

He is still the boss, perhaps, but no longer The Boss in all the raging glory that moniker implied. Increasingly, Steinbrenner's son-in-law, Steve Swindal, is handling the daily business operations of the club (when he's not getting busted for DWI, yet another eruption of this spring). The implications of a Yankees team without Steinbrenner's win-at-all-costs imprint could be profound.

Then there's the beloved Torre, who is 66 years old and in the final year of his contract, too. Though Torre has left open the possibility of continuing past this year, most Yankees insiders wouldn't be surprised to see the reins handed next year to bench coach Don Mattingly.

And if the Yankees don't get to the World Series, it probably won't be Torre's choice. Remember, he just barely survived The Boss' wrath last October, when the Yankees were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Detroit. By all accounts, general manager Brian Cashman had to plead for Torre's job. Even in his dotage, Steinbrenner isn't likely to be so charitable if it happens again.

That marked the Yankees' sixth consecutive year of non-championship, a full-blown crisis in these parts. Starting with their epic four-game collapse to Boston in 2004, the Yankees are 3-10 in the playoffs. Since Arizona came from behind in the ninth inning off Rivera to beat them in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, the Yankees have been ousted in the first round three times.

Cashman has set about building a new Yankees core by nurturing the next generation of young players, such as Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, 19-game winner Chien-Ming Wang and 20-year-old pitching phenom Philip Hughes, consistently ranked as one of the top three young arms in the minor leagues.

In a startling transformation this winter, Cashman largely stayed away from the enticing free-agent targets that the Yankees used to jump after - Daisuke Matsuzaka, Barry Zito, J.D. Drew, et al. He traded established players like Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield and Jaret Wright for minor-leaguers, intent on stocking up on young pitching and trimming payroll.

If he has done it right - and don't underestimate the acumen of Cashman - then the Yankees have built the foundation for another long run. If they've done it wrong, they will be forced to do damage control in their time-honored manner - by becoming the Bronx Mercenaries to an even greater extent.

"As of a couple of years ago, we started adding young players to our mix," Torre said. "That hasn't really been a part of what we've done here. Now the players that are helping us are coming not only through the free-agent market, they're coming through the organization, which is something we haven't done in a while."

Make no mistake, the 2007 Yankees still are a formidable team, and still a hugely expensive ($200 million) team of superstars - as always, the team to beat.

It will be fascinating to see if Torre can coax one more title out of the old gang before the next wave of change arrives.

"Unfortunately, things can't last forever," center fielder Johnny Damon said. "But it did last for a long time."

Source: Milwaukee Journal Times

By Greg Giesen
Journal Times

Maybe the general public can answer this question for me: Whose fault is it that there are stories about the love-hate relationship between New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Alex Rodriguez?

Is it the media’s fault for making such a non-issue a big deal or is it the public’s fault for wanting to hear more and more about an issue that has nothing to do with baseball? Either way, a pox on both houses!

Apparently, the two were best buddies until A-Rod commented in a 2001 magazine piece about Jeter’s leadership ability. Frankly, Jeter should have just taken a picture of his jewelry collection and sent it to A-Rod — that would have ended any debate about leadership. But no, we have to keep hearing about Jeter not backing A-Rod last year and the two having a bad relationship.
Who cares! Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were friends until Ruth made a comment about Gehrig’s mother. Gehrig, for a time, had nothing to do with Ruth. The Yankees, though, still had a pretty good team. I believe it was called Murders’ Row.

I think there are enough issues with the New York Yankees that the beat writers and columnists can find better fodder for stories, columns, Web sites and blogs.
Sadly, the issue really doesn’t matter. Jeter and A-Rod are both professionals who perform at a very high level. That level doesn’t depend on them eating dinner together, playing cards, swapping barbecue techniques or being, as A-Rod put it, “blood brothers.”

What matters is that they are paid a boatload of money to perform and it’s expected by owner George Steinbrenner that they perform at a high level so the Yankees can win another World Series while the baseball world roots against them or yawns in apathy.
So enough, let’s focus on baseball and keep the nonsense issues where they belong — buried and not talked about.

Source: Associated Press

Tampa, Fla. | Manager Joe Torre and the core of Yankees' players that won four World Series titles with Bernie Williams are resigned to the outfielder's absence.

Williams rejected the Yankees offer of a minor league contract, instead wanting a guarantee of a job when the season starts.

"It's sad," said Torre, who hasn't talked with Williams since late last week, "but not surprising in the fact that I haven't heard back from him."

"It appears he's not coming," Jeter said Wednesday. "It will set in a little bit more as the spring goes on. For selfish reasons, I'm disappointed he's not here.

"I don't want to talk about his career being over yet," Jeter said. "Let him decide if he's done playing before I make comments on his career. It goes without saying what he's meant to the organization."

Source: CBS Sportsline


FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Manny Ramirez changed plans and will not attend a car auction in New Jersey on Saturday while his Boston Red Sox teammates work out at spring training, the team said Thursday.


The Red Sox gave Ramirez permission to report late to camp on March 1, the day after their first exhibition game, for family reasons. The left fielder's mother recently had surgery.

Boston general manager Theo Epstein said that after learning about Ramirez's scheduled appearance at the auction, he spoke Wednesday night with Greg Genske, the slugger's agent.

"He said (Ramirez) is not going to be there, so it's fine," Epstein said Thursday. "He's dealing with a family issue. We're not going to document his exact whereabouts on an hour-to-hour basis."

Louise Cunningham, who works for G. Potter King, the Berlin, N.J., car dealer promoting the auction, told the Associated Press on Wednesday night that Ramirez was still expected at the event in Atlantic City. On Thursday, the company did not return calls seeking comment.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said that when he spoke with Genske and Ramirez on Tuesday night, the car auction was not discussed. Francona also said he wasn't concerned that Ramirez would make plans to be at a car show during spring training.

"I don't think I can let it concern me that he might have, or he allegedly, or somebody wrote it. That's not a very productive way for me to manage the club," Francona said.

Epstein said he didn't think the auction would be a distraction, "if we manage it the right way."

"Manny certainly intends to be here as soon as he can and get ready for the season. So I think it's not the biggest deal in the world, provided he's here March 1, or even earlier if his mother's situation resolves itself," the GM said.

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino also showed little concern about Ramirez's previous plans to be at the auction.

"I think it's a stale issue," he told reporters. "You guys are making a tempest in a teapot."

Ramirez collects classic cars. His 1967 four-door Lincoln Continental Sedan convertible is listed in Saturday's auction as number 1747A. In parentheses on the auction list is a note: Owned by Manny Ramirez.

Baseball's collective bargaining agreement gives teams the right to penalize players who report to camp after Feb. 27, but Epstein said the team won't discipline Ramirez.

"We can give a player permission to show up late for certain instances, and family always comes first in this organization and will continue to," Epstein said.

The Red Sox are used to Ramirez's unusual behavior.

The slugger asked to be traded after the last two seasons and was the subject of trade talks at the July 31 deadline in 2005. He also missed most of the final six weeks last season with what the team called right knee tendinitis. There was speculation he was physically able to play.

Ramirez is scheduled to make $18 million this season, the seventh of his eight-year, $160 million contract. In each if his previous six seasons with the Red Sox, he had at least 33 homers and 102 RBI.

Source: CBS Sportsline

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Curt Schilling said he will become a free agent after the season and won't let that distract him during his fourth year with the Boston Red Sox.

General manager Theo Epstein wouldn't rule out in-season discussions for a new contract.

At a brief meeting between the two Wednesday, Epstein told the pitching ace that the team would not give him an extension during spring training, as Schilling had wished.

"Curt's going to be 41, and at that age we've got to be a little more conservative," Epstein said Thursday. "It doesn't mean we don't want him back. I have all the confidence in the world that if Curt wants to pitch in 2008 and he's still pitching effectively, as I expect he will, then we'll find a way to keep him in a Red Sox uniform."

Epstein also said Schilling will be the opening day starter April 2 in Kansas City and "I couldn't be happier about that."

Schilling said he didn't warn the Red Sox that it might cost them more to sign him after the season. Even if they want to keep him, he still could leave.

"I'll consider anything at that point," he said.

Schilling struggled late last season and went 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA. Bothered by injuries in 2005, he was 8-8 with a 5.69 ERA. But in 2004, his first season with Boston, he was 21-6 with a 3.26 ERA and a star of Boston's World Series sweep of St. Louis.

Late last month, Schilling said he wanted to play in 2008 after stating previously that he would retire after the 2007 season. Schilling, who represents himself, also said he would play for the same amount he's making this year, $13 million, but he wouldn't negotiate after opening day.

On Thursday, he said he was "disappointed" but understood the club's position. He also said he would not negotiate with the Red Sox during the 15 days following the World Series, when they are the only club allowed to discuss money with him.

"I will file for free agency at the end of the season and they know that," Schilling said. "I'm going to get ready for opening day and this is not going to change anything that I do or how I do it"

Manager Terry Francona, who also managed Schilling in Philadelphia, indicated the pitcher could alter his stance.

"He was also going to retire," Francona said. "You know what I'm saying. Things change."

Schilling became the first Red Sox pitcher to pitch batting practice on Thursday, throwing about 40 pitches to minor leaguers Jeff Corsaletti, Jeff Natale and Andrew Pinckney.


"It's a business, and I get that," Schilling said. "I woke up, the sun came up today and I'm getting after it."

He also said he won't let the uncertainty about the 2008 season distract him or give him any more motivation.

"The best three years of my career -- '97, 2001, 2004 -- were all first year of multiyear contracts," Schilling said. "I don't pitch for contracts."

He signed a $37.5 million, three-year contract before the 2004 season after leaving Arizona as a free agent. A $13 million option for 2007 became guaranteed because the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.

"Regardless of whether he's signed for 10 years or one month, he will pitch like he's always pitched," Francona said, "give you everything he has."

Schilling said his meeting with Epstein on Wednesday lasted about three minutes and followed other discussions in which contract details were discussed.

"There was no offer," Schilling said. "He asked me if I wanted the long story or the short story and I said, 'Give me the short one.' So it was quick."

Schilling is the No. 1 starter in a strong rotation that includes three 26-year-old right-handers -- Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jonathan Papelbon. Tim Wakefield, 40, is the fifth starter. Boston also has promising lefty Jon Lester, 23, who appears close to full strength after offseason treatment for anaplastic large cell lymphoma.