The LoHud Yankees Blog

Back later with some audio, but for now:

· Joe Girardi said that Hideki Matsui will not play any outfield in spring training because of his knees. He also conceded that once the season starts, Matsui would only play the outfield in an emergency. They want him working on getting knees healthy enough to run the bases. I guess now we know why Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher are still on the team.

· I asked Girardi what young pitchers have caught his eye. He mentioned Christian Garcia and Eric Hacker. He also loves him some Andrew Brackman. “The Triple-A and Double-A staffs are going to be very good,” he said. “We have some great arms.”

· Derek Jeter talked for a long time about A-Rod and the game’s drug issues. I’ll post the audio later. But in summation: He’s disappointed in Alex but believes he is sorry for what he did. Jeter also is angry at the time he played being known as the “Steroids Era” because everybody didn’t do it. He wishes that he had spoken up to the union years ago but its too late to go back and correct that.

You can certainly understand Jeter’s frustration. He doesn’t want his accomplishments overshadowed by what the cheaters were doing.

· Jorge Posada had something to do with his kids yesterday, that’s why he left the press conference.

· From what I could tell, A-Rod received a warm ovation from the fans, although one guy in the stands yelled, “Tell them the truth next time!” I followed him around all day (as did most of us) to try and gauge the reaction.

A-Rod did not grant any interviews today. People were at his locker after the workout but he walked past. “Talk tomorrow, guys,” he said.

· Damaso Marte has stiff hamstrings. Nothing serious.

· Francisco Cervelli (illness) is expected back on Monday.

· There will be no intrasquad game this year because of the games starting on Feb. 25.

Those are the highlights. Teixeira signed a lot of autographs and bantered a lot with fans, as did Swisher. They seem like good guys. Swish is a big Ohio State football fan and was thrilled to learn that Triple-A conditioning coach Lee Tressel is Jim Tressel’s nephew.

· Shelley Duncan and I talked about our iPhones and when he left, he punched me in the shoulder. It still hurts. If he tries that again it’s go time.

· Speaking of which, the iPhone photos today weren’t half-bad. Am I right? I’m working on it. The idea is just to give you a little sense of what it’s like here from my perspective.

Joe Giradi just said he likely will hit Tex third and A-Rod fourth. Matsui is the leading contender to hit fifth.

More to come.

Mark Teixeira signs.

A-Rod at batting practice.

Here’s A-Rod fielding grounders on Field 2. He was with Justin Leone, who has never had his photo taken so many times.

Here are the position players stretching. A-Rod was the last player to take the field and was cheered.

Joba Chamberlain got another tattoo. This one runs across the top of his chest, from collarbone to collarbone. It says “True Pleasure Takes Sacrifice” in black script letters.

“Just something I came up with,” he said.

Joba found an tattoo artist he likes in St. Petersburg. He, Brian Bruney and A.J. Burnett each have an incredible amount of ink.

As to other items:

· Angel Berroa, who is in camp on a minor-league deal, looks about 50 and I’m not kidding. The 2003 American League Rookie of the Year (when Hideki Matsui got hosed) has gone steadily downhill since. He was with the Dodgers last season and hit .230 over 226 at-bats.

· The players are in the middle of a 90-minute meeting. This is the big annual sit-down. Brian Cashman talks, Joe Girardi talks, the trainer talks, etc. There’s also a motivational film from the guy in charge of motivation. They won’t be on the field until 11.

“You need a Red Bull to stay awake,” said one Yankee, who shall remain nameless.

Back later with some observations from the field and cheesy photos.

And now for something other than steroids …

Had a nice chat with Austin Jackson. After playing in the Arizona Fall League, he took a month off and then moved to Pensacola, Fla., to train at the Athletes’ Performance Institute in Gulf Breeze.

The facility is affiliated with Dr. James Andrews. It’s where Manny Ramirez has been working out.

“I got stronger, faster and cut down on my body fat,” Jackson said. “I was there for about a month and a half. It was a great experience.”

Jackson just turned 22 and seems determined to make this a big season. The Yankees want him to play at AAA and that is smart. It would be senseless to jump him from AA to the majors.

You have to give Jackson credit for playing in Arizona and then spending six weeks in Florida getting himself ready for the season. Jackson is one of my favorite prospects and it would not surprise if the coming season is when he really breaks out.

Alex Rodriguez added more supposed details about his PED use during a press conference yesterday.

Still left unanswered: Who is his drug mule cousin (if such a person does indeed exist) and what about the testosterone Sports Illustrated reported he took? Was that part of the “boli” they obtained? But there are fewer loose ends than before.

Journal News columnist Sam Borden writes that A-Rod does not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Andy Pettitte, meanwhile, was called to speak to federal prosecutors pondering charges against Roger Clemens. This story also has news of A-Rod’s new charitable endeavor.

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You know what I can’t figure out? The 2003 survey tests were supposed to be anonymous, a way for baseball to determine whether it had a PED problem. Yet somewhere in the process, the samples were labeled with the name of the player who provided it.

If I was a member of the MLBPA, I’d be furious about that. How is that an anonymous test? It doesn’t excuse what A-Rod did. But he certainly was not served by his union in this case.

I do think this fades away in time — provided there is not another set of positive tests out there or compelling evidence of something else he did.

The first full-squad workout is today. There’s the annual Big Meeting first, so the players won’t take the field for a while, probably around 10:30 or 11.

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Adam from Blogging The Pinstripes did a little Q&A with me if you’re interested.