Jeter wasn’t “blindsided” this time by what, a huge compliment from A-Rod? can someone be “blindsided” by a compliment?

what an idiotic angle.

he writes that it (having lunch) “surprised those who believe the relationship between the superstars is as cold as ice”, yet doesn’t support this claim by actually quoting anyone who DID think their relationship was cold.

so who did it actually surprise?

i’m sure it surprised King, since King seems to believe that A-Rod usually eats babies for lunch, and of course, eats said babies by himself sitting on his golden throne in a velvet roped-off corner of the clubhouse.

Pete, why does Mo set his own schedule? Just because he’s Mo? because he only plays one inning or are there other reasons. I’m just curious, trying to learn more about spring training.

FRIENDS AGAIN
JETER, A-ROD RIFT IS FADING
By GEORGE A. KING III

February 23, 2008 — TAMPA – This time Derek Jeter wasn’t blindsided by the words spilling out of Alex Rodriguez’s mouth.

A year ago, Jeter didn’t know Rodriguez was going to talk about their faded friendship when spring training opened. Yesterday, Jeter said he knew about Rodriguez’s prediction Thursday that Jeter would have a season worthy of an AL MVP award.

“He mentioned it to me when we were out at lunch the other day,” Jeter said. “We were talking about different workout programs. I don’t really think about it. The bottom line is to win.”

The news that Jeter and Rodriguez had lunch, believed to be at P.F. Chang’s before Wednesday’s first full-squad workout, surprised those who believe the relationship between the superstars is as cold as ice.

“You all assume things you shouldn’t assume,” Jeter said when asked about the lunch being something of a surprise. “I have lunch with a lot of people.”

When asked about the lunch, Rodriguez said, “Where did you get that [information] from?” Told Jeter voluntarily offered it, Rodriguez grinned.

A YankeesNew York Yankees official said the relationship is “getting better, and that is good for the team.”

However, the lunch wasn’t brokered by outside forces.

“It was Derek being Derek and Alex being Alex,” Joe Girardi said. “People put a lot more into [them not getting along] than they should. Alex having a family changed the dynamics, but people read too much into that.”

Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP who won last season’s award, has been impressed by Jeter’s shape and the offseason drills Jeter did to increase agility, speed and explosiveness.

Though being in better shape and possibly a hair quicker might help Jeter contend for the MVP, hitting behind Johnny DamonJohnny Damon and in front of Bobby AbreuBobby Abreu may have more to do with Jeter adding the MVP trophy to his four World Series rings, a World Series MVP (2000) and the 1996 Rookie of the Year award.

That’s because Damon is serious about returning to the land of baseball’s elite after a dismal season a year ago when he hit .270 and was limited to 141 games due to nagging injuries. Abreu is a year away from free agency and in better shape than he was at this time last year.

When Jeter was nosed out by Minnesota’s Justin Morneau for the MVP in 2006 after the Yankees shortstop hit .343, many believed Jeter had lost his best shot. He didn’t win it in 1999 when he established career highs in batting average (.349), runs scored (134), home runs (24), RBIs (102), on-base percentage (.438) and slugging percentage (.552). That season Texas’ Ivan Rodriguez was the winner.

In typical Jeter fashion, he put a fifth World Series ring ahead of the first MVP.

“I’d rather win, that’s the bottom line, you play to win,” Jeter said. “You always want to do well because the better you do the better the team does. But my mindset from Day 1 is to win.”

“He has a lot of great years but there are a lot of good players, too,” Girardi said. “You know what you get every day, and that’s a pleasure for the manager.”

Here is the story about Ensberg:

http://www.ubersite.com/m/35136