The LoHud Yankees Blog

He’s using a fungo bat to hit one-hoppers as hard as he can at the catchers.

It’s scary to watch. Posada snaps them up. Molina, too.

The glove is popping.

Here’s Jorge Posada catching in the bullpen. And that’s Dave Eiland watching from above.

Here’s a good sight for Yankees fans: Chien-Ming Wang on the mound.

He’s throwing next to Phil Hughes. Both look good.

It’s easy for fans to complain about what columnists have to say about Alex Rodriguez. But check out what former teammate Jamie Moyer had to say about his admission of drug use.

“Who’s going to believe him?” Moyer said. “What credibility does he have now? The guy has a ton of talent,” Moyer said. “Why does he need that? Money? The expectations that came from the contract?”

The Yankees have little choice but to support Rodriguez. He is their teammate and an important part of the team. But, privately, some feel the same way Moyer does.

When such a supremely talented player resorts to drug use at a young age, it leaves every player in the game under a cloud of suspicion. For those players who made the decision not to cheat, it won’t be easy to forgive Rodriguez.

“It’s almost embarrassing to say that you play because of things that have happened and how they’ve been handled,” Moyer said.

Moyer has 22 years in the game and 246 wins. There is no questioning his credibility on a subject like this.

Here are the groups of pitchers in the bullpen today:

1: Aceves, Hughes, Pettitte, Wang

2: Coke, Marte, Ramirez, Tomko

3: Brackman, Jackson, Melancon

4: Claggett, De La Rosa, Hacker, Texeira

This will be the first time Brackman will be able to show the Yankees what he can do. He was rehabbing while in camp last season and never threw off the mound. Since being picked in the first round in 2007, he has thrown only 31.2 innings. Those came in the Hawaiian Winter League last fall.

“Today is a big day for me,” he said. “I just need to get out there and pitch.”

Brackman was 270 when he came to camp last year. He is 232 now.

Spoke to Alfredo Aceves, who said he is skipping the WBC to focus on trying to make the Yankees.

“It was a hard decision but I feel I should stay here,” he said.

It’s a pleasant 70 degrees in Tampa but there is a chance of rain as the pitchers and catchers gather for their second workout.

Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang will throw in the bullpen today. CMW has already been off the mound several times as he reported to Tampa early. The only non-catcher in camp is Hideki Matsui, who can show up early because he is a rehab player. All he really does is jog and take batting practice.

Under the terms of the collective-bargaining agreement, players are not allowed to start working out with the team until a certain date. That is why Derek Jeter, Nich Swisher, Brett Gardner, etc. are at the minor-league complex. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera are at the team complex in the Dominican.

The position players report on Monday and the first full-squad workout is Tuesday.

Back later with some reports from the field.

Mariano Rivera knows the end is coming for him. But it won’t be this season, he said.

Jorge Posada plans to catch more games than the Yankees think he will. This notebook also has an update on Hideki Matsui and other tidbits from the first workout.

Workouts are a little later on Sunday. They’ll be on the field around 11 or so.

I stopped Brian Cashman outside of Field 3 this afternoon to ask a few questions about Mariano Rivera. As we chatted, he told me an interesting story.

During spring training in 1996, the Yankees weren’t convinced that Derek Jeter was ready to play shortstop. Prodded by Clyde King, George Steinbrenner decided the Yankees had to trade for Felix Fermin, who was with the Mariners at the time.

Seattle didn’t need him because they they had a 20-year-old kid named Alex Rodriguez playing shortstop.

The Mariners wanted either Mariano Rivera or Bob Wickman.

“It was a big fight and we were very close to doing it. Thank God we didn’t,” Cashman said.