The LoHud Yankees Blog

The team will hit the field at 11. There’s a big meeting now.

Here are the pitchers throwing in the bullpen:

Burnett (Molina)
Chamberlain (Cash)
Kennedy (Romine)
Sabathia (Posada)
Bruney
Geise
Veras
Albaladejo
Igawa
Robertson
Cox
Dunn
Garcia
Kontos

Wang and Pettitte threw yesterday. Suffice it to say, CC throwing to Posada will draw a crowd.

Mariano Rivera gave his annual State of the Greatest Closer Ever speech this morning. It centered on the health of his shoulder, which underwent a surgical procedure in October.

Rivera had a bone spur that was taken out. After a winter of rehab, he started tossing about two weeks ago. He has yet to throw off the mound, which is not particularly unusual for him. Rivera generally need 8-10 innings in the spring to get ready.

Asked whether he was worried, Rivera shook his head. “It will be there,” he said. “It will be there.”

Rivera also likes what the Yankees did to rebuild their rotation. “We have a great team to bring a championship to the new Stadium,” he said.

Rivera, by the way, turned 39 in November.

Andy Pettitte knows what Alex Rodriguez is going through and he has some advice.

CC Sabathia’s first day as a Yankee went well. This notebook also has some news on Andy Pettitte, David Robertson, Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera.

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Jim Leyritz was jailed again for violating the terms of his bail by drinking. He is awaiting trial on DUI manslaughter.

The Yankees allowed Leyritz to come to spring training and yuck it up with some old buddies last spring, only a few months after the incident. It’ll be interesting to see whether they extend that courtesy again if he makes bail for a second time.

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Today is the first workout, which is not usually eventful. But it’s fun to watch because there are actual baseball players playing actual baseball. It will be strange not to see Moose out there with the first group of starters.

Meanwhile in Arizona, Carl Pavano is plotting what his first injury with the Indians will be. I’m going with a bad back. Those are hard to prove.

Yes, you can come watch the workouts at Big Stein Field. They generally start at 9:45 or so. It’s not especially exciting but you can wander around and watch guys throw, run and hit.

Meanwhile, Humberto Sanchez is a few days behind because of some arm stiffness. He says it’s nothing serious. Sanchez has pitched a grand total of 16.2 innings since he came from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield trade.

He got a minor-league deal with a spring training invite. Tomko was 2-7, 6.30 with Kansas City and San Diego last season. He pitched in 22 games, 10 of them starts. He will be 36 in April.

Here are his stats.

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Meanwhile, in an incredible case of bad timing, the University of Miami named its baseball field after Alex Rodriguez this evening. A-Rod donated $3.9 million to refurbish the facility. He had planned to attend Miami before signing with Seattle out of high school.

The stadium is now called Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. How a park can be at a field, I’m not quite sure. But for $3.9 million, it doesn’t really matter.

A-Rod did not speak to reporters at the event.

UPDATE, 9:51 p.m.: He spoke afterward:

“I have been so fortunate to have received so much from a game I love so much,” Rodriguez said. “That doesn’t mean I haven’t made mistakes, and unless you’ve been in a cave under the ocean this last week, you know that I’ve made some. What it does mean is that I understand only in America can you dream big, work hard, and be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.”

Andy Pettitte said today “he needed some help from the trainer” to make his final 10 starts last season. That’s baseball-player speak for cortisone shots.

He was 2-6 with a 5.43 ERA in those games.

“My shoulder, for whatever reason, just broke down,” Pettitte said. With the Yankees in contention, he kept taking the ball. That shows two things: Pettitte has a lot of guts and the Yankees didn’t have a lot of faith in anybody else.

Pettitte said he focused on strengthening his shoulder this winter and that several examinations revealed no structural damage. While he remains concerned something will happen, he knows he has done everything he can to prevent it.

Meanwhile …

— It would not be a surprise if Kevin Cash makes the team. The Yankees may need to carry three catchers for a few weeks if Jorge Posada is going to be brought along slowly.

— Dave Robertson’s older brother Connor is with the Mets. He’s a right-handed reliever, too. If they make the team, they’ll share a place in the city. “Two hillbillies in Manhattan,” said Robertson, who is from Alabama.

— The Yankees were going to have A-Rod met the press on Tuesday in the dugout to try and make it more informal. But expect a full-fledged press conference instead. The main reason? Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte want to attend. Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.

The first workout is tomorrow. Check back then for more from Tampa.

Great shot, via AP, of CC Sabathia throwing in the outfield this afternoon.

Welcome readers of The Big Lead. Don’t cause any trouble.

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Here is the full audio from CC Sabathia’s interview today. It was in the home dugout at Big Stein Field and lasted about 12 minutes. I think a listen will give you a good sense of what kind of person he is.

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I have two newspaper stories to write, but I’ll check in later on.

I have literally received two dozen e-mails from people in the last 24 hours asking about roster numbers. Rather than answer all of them, I asked the Yankees to e-mail me a roster I could post. So thanks to the very efficient Connie, here you go:

This is the 2009 Spring Training Roster

2 Derek Jeter INF
11 Brett Gardner OF
12 Cody Ransom INF
13 Alex Rodriguez INF
14 Angel Berroa INF
17 Shelley Duncan INF/OF
18 Johnny Damon OF
19 Kevin Cash C
20 Jorge Posada C
22 Xavier Nady OF
24 Robinson Cano INF
25 Mark Teixeira INF
26 Jose Molina C
27 Joe Girardi MGR
28 Melky Cabrera OF
29 Kei Igawa LHP
30 David Robertson RHP
31 Ian Kennedy RHP
33 Nick Swisher OF/INF
34 A.J. Burnett RHP
36 Edwar Ramirez RHP
38 Brian Bruney RHP
39 Dan Giese RHP
40 Chien-Ming Wang RHP
41 Jose Veras RHP
42 Mariano Rivera RHP
43 Damaso Marte LHP
45 Jason Johnson RHP
46 Andy Pettitte LHP
47 John Rodriguez OF
48 Phil Coke LHP
50 Mick Kelleher COACH
52 CC Sabathia LHP
54 Kevin Long COACH
55 Hideki Matsui OF
56 Tony Pena COACH
57 Mike Harkey COACH
58 Dave Eiland COACH
59 Rob Thomson COACH
60 Todd Linden OF
61 Sergio Mitre RHP
62 Joba Chamberlain RHP
63 Jonathan Albaladejo RHP
64 Andrew Brackman RHP
65 Phil Hughes RHP
66 J.B. Cox RHP
67 Anthony Claggett RHP
68 Wilkin De La Rosa LHP
70 Christian Garcia RHP
71 Eric Hacker RHP
72 Juan Miranda INF
73 Doug Bernier INF
74 Justin Leone INF
75 Francisco Cervelli C
76 Kevin Russo INF
77 Humberto Sanchez RHP
78 Mark Melancon RHP
79 Colin Curtis OF
80 Steven Jackson RHP
81 Kyle Anson C
82 Austin Jackson OF
83 Jesus Montero C
84 Austin Romine C
85 Michael Dunn LHP
86 P.J. Pilittere C
90 Ramiro Pena INF
91 Alfredo Aceves RHP
92 Eduardo Nunez INF
93 George Kontos RHP
94 Kanekoa Texeira RHP

Here’s what kind of pitcher the Yankees have on top of their rotation.

When the Milwaukee Brewers were trying to make the playoffs last season, CC Sabathia was pitching deep into games and working on three days rest because they were short a starter.

Knowing his most prestigious client was about to become a free agent, agent Greg Genske tried to put a stop to it.

“I had to shut my phone off and block his calls,” Sabathia said. “He was pretty upset about it. He was freaking out. … I felt fine. Nobody asked me to do that. I wanted to.”

Sabathia said he feels fine — “I feel great, to be honest with you,” he said. — and doesn’t regret what he did.

“I’d do it again,” he said.

Sabathia also said he has purchased a home in New Jersey and will live there year-round. Beyond how he pitches, I think fans are really going to like Sabathia. He seems to have an engaging personality.

A.J Burnett, meanwhile, was asked what he thought of Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain being on the back end of the rotation.

“I’m not sure there is a back end,” he said.

This needs to be quick as we’re waiting on CC. A.J. was good, seems laid-back.

More later.