The LoHud Yankees Blog

I know this is not Yankees-related. But this press release from the Dodgers sure is interesting:

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers today received a letter from Scott Boras, the agent for Manny Ramirez, rejecting the offer that the club made yesterday. This rejection is the fourth by the agent in the club’s attempts to sign Manny.

“We love Manny Ramirez,” said Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, “And we want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves. When his agent finds those ‘serious offers’ from other clubs, we’ll be happy to re-start the negotiations.

“Even with an economy that has substantially eroded since last November, out of respect for Manny and his talents, we actually improved our offer.

“So now, we start from scratch.”

There are roughly 600 obstructed view bleacher seats at the new Stadium thanks to the genius move of plunking a restaurant right in the middle of the seats.

These seats, once $12, are now $5. The other bit of good news is that there will be screens on the side of the restaurant, so you’ll be able to follow the ball that way once you lose sight of it.

Meanwhile, the bleacher seats will be alcohol free. But you’ll be able to enjoy a frosty beer elsewhere. You just can’t bring it back to your seat. I’m also told that the bleachers will not be closed off from the rest of the park.

So for $5 bucks, you can more or less see, have a beer and walk around. Can’t beat that.

The Yankees have not announced when single-game seats will go on sale. But considering that Opening Day is April 16, it’s got to be sometime soon.

————

Meanwhile this bad news for the team via AP:

The Yankees and Bank of America have ended months of negotiations on a sponsorship agreement. The decision is a result of the financial industry’s struggles and decision to accept aid from the federal government.

While the sides never discussed naming rights to the team’s new $1.5 billion stadium, they had talked about the possibility of a 20-year deal that would have included signage, special events and tickets.

Here’s Joe Girardi’s postgame interview. There were mostly baseball questions (Posada, Bruney, Hughes, Melancon) but a few on A-Rod, the crowd reaction to A-Rod and his cousin. It runs for about seven minutes:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Associated Press just reported that the Yankees have ordered A-Rod to keep his cousin away from ballparks for the rest of the season.

Said Girardi: “That situation has been addressed and I’ll just leave it at that.”

According to the AP, Rodriguez acknowledged that he made a mistake. His cousin, Yuri Sucart, is the man who smuggled the anabolic steroid Primobolan to the United States from the Dominican Republic from 2001-03.

YANKEES (1-0)
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Nady RF
Posada DH
Molina C
Cabrera CF

Pitching today: Phil Hughes followed by Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Jon Albaladejo, Mark Melancon.

RAYS (0-1)
Kennedy 2B
Crawford LF
Aybar DH
Ensberg 3B
Zobrist SS
Kapler CF
Richard 1B
Riggans C
Ruggiano RF

Rays pitching: Wade Davis followed by Winston Abreu, Calvin Medlock, Chad Orvella, Dale Thayer and Julio DePaula.

Notes: The game is on YES. … This is the first of 18 games at Big Stein Field.

UPDATE ON MARIANO RIVERA, 9:37 a.m.: Rivera has been playing catch and will get on the mound for the first time next week. That is not too far off what his usual schedule would be. “I feel fine. My shoulder is strong,” he said this morning. “No problems.”

UPDATE VIA iPHONE, 10:15 a.m.: Watching Wang, Joba, CC and Aceves in the bullpen.

It’s interesting to watch how effectively CC uses his lower half to drive the ball. It’s something Joba needs to improve.

Here are some shots from above:

UPDATE VIA iPHONE, 10:34 a.m.: Yogi Berra and Don Zimmer are talking behind the cage. There’s a little baseball knowledge.

UPDATE VIA iPHONE, 11:23 a.m.: Trying to confirm this, but it sounds like Alex Rodriguez either has met or will meet with the MLB investigators today.

UPDATE, 12:41 p.m.: Just spoke to Brian Cashman. He did not have any information as to whether Alex Rodriguez will meet with MLB investigators today.

I asked Cashman his opinion on Yuri Sucart driving his players to and from games.

“It has been handled,” he said. “That’s all I want to say, it has been handled.”

Asked whether Sucart would still be allowed to transport players to and from games, Cashman repeated that the matter had been handled.

UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.: George Steinbrenner is at his game. I also saw his daughters, Jessica and Jennifer. I’m assuming Hal and Hank are here as well but I have not seen them.

It’s a beautiful day in Tampa. Sunny, a few clouds and 73 at the moment.

UPDATE, 12:57 p.m.: They’re introducing all the guest instructors now. This could take a while. Big hand for Tino.

UPDATE, 1:03 p.m.: Lawrence Peter Berra received a standing ovation when introduced.

UPDATE, 1:06 p.m.: Lots of Rays fans here, they got a lot of applause. … Meanwhile the Yankees had a fly-over of an Air Force transport as the anthem ended. They don’t do anything halfway here.

George Steinbrenner is sitting in the front row of his suite and received a big hand when he came out.

UPDATE, 1:14 p.m.: Bernie Williams just threw out the first pitch.

UPDATE, 1:28 p.m.: Phil Hughes hit Kennedy and Aybar but struck out Crawford and got Zobrist to pop to short to end the inning. He threw 18 pitches, 13 strikes. His fastball was 91/92.

UPDATE, 1:34 p.m.: Yankees went in order in the first. Tex fanned.

UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: Good inning for Hughes. He walked Richard with one out but came back to K Riggans on four pitches then got Ruggiano to ground to second. He’s at 33 pitches and is probably done.

UPDATE, 1:46 p.m.: Three up and three down again, A-Rod and Cano fanned. Davis has made them look silly for two innings. … Phil Coke now pitching.

The line for Hughes: 2 innings 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 2 hit batters. I had him for 33 pitches, 22 strikes.

UPDATE, 1:52 p.m.: The new, extra-hustle Robinson Cano just ranged into short right field to track down a grounder and made a nice flip to first to get Aybar. 1-2-3 inning for Coke.

UPDATE, 2:10 p.m.: Coke motors through another inning. He allowed a single but caught Richard looking to end the frame. 1-0 Yankees middle of the fourth.

The live blog could get a little spotty soon as we’ll be heading down to the clubhouse to speak to Hughes and Coke.

Jeter, Tex and A-Rod due up.

UPDATE, 2:19 p.m.: Still here. Tex singled with one out by A-Rod grounded into a 5-4-3 DP. Lots of Rays fans here. They booed him when he came up then cheered when he ended the inning.

Brian Bruney now chucking. Yanks have allowed one hit through 4 innings.

UPDATE, 2:24 p.m.: Brian Bruney just cruised through the fifth inning, hitting 95 on the gun. He’s got big-time upside in that 8th inning role.

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: Nady reached on a ground-rule double down the line in right. Then Posada doubled over the head of the center field. The ball hopped the fence or he might have reached third. 2-0 Yankees.

UPDATE, 2:37 p.m.: Marte on to pitch. Wholesale changes to the lineup.

UPDATE, 3:15 p.m.: In a revolutionary moment for the interweb, here is audio from the starting pitcher before the game is over.

Phil Hughes talks about his two innings, how spring training feels this year when compared to last and what his goals are for this season:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Don’t read too much into Hughes hitting two batters in the first inning. Dave Eiland is big on working inside and pushing batters off the plate. I suspect Hughes was being particularly aggressive on 0-1 pitches. It’s not something he would necessarily do during the season.

UPDATE, 3:17 p.m.: As I was leaving the clubhouse, Shelley Duncan hammered a three-run blast to left field. It’s 5-1 Yankees.

Now Mark Melancon, who is the man, is moving down the Rays in the eighth inning.

Here are a few links to be aware of:

If you are on Facebook, you can become a fan of this blog and get links to each post there. We have close to 1,300 fans, so join the crowd.

All of the audio files that are posted are also available as podcasts on iTunes.

You can find the daily newspaper stories at LoHud.com’s Yankees page.

Alex Rodriguez heard some boos early then made some noise of his own with a two-run homer that helped the Yankees beat the Blue Jays. A-Rod then left the park with his controversial cousin. Reggie Jackson also weighed in on the situation.

The Yankees set their rotation for the spring. This notebook also has updates on Jose Veras and Brett Tomko.

————

Rays-Yankees this afternoon in Tampa. The game will be on YES. Check back later for the lineups.

The WBC is a huge deal in Japan. Reportedly tens of thousands of people showed up to watch their national team practice about 10 days ago. They’ve been getting ready for three weeks and it would hardly be a surprise if they defend their title.

Meanwhile Kei Igawa toils away here for the Yankees, unwanted and unloved. He’ll probably be in the Scranton rotation.

One of the Japanese reporters in Tampa covering Hideki Matsui was asked why Igawa was not considered for the WBC roster. He searched for the right words.

“They think … he is not so good,” the man said.

I would say that about covers it.

Via the AP, here are a couple of shots of the new Monument Park. They moved the Babe Ruth monument into place today.

This is what it says:

GEORGE HERMAN “BABE” RUTH
1895-1948
A GREAT BALL PLAYER
A GREAT MAN
A GREAT AMERICAN

I’m really looking to getting a look at the new Monument Park. It’s truly one of the coolest places in all of sports.

Brett Gardner had 127 at-bats without a home run in the majors last season. But he took the second pitch of the game over the fence in right field. His wife Jessica and three-month-old son Hunter were at the game.

“I don’t know if he saw it but he was here and it will be a good story to tell him about the first game he ever went to,” said Gardner, who took his son into the clubhouse to show him off when he came out of the game.

Gardner was 1 for 3 in the game.

No audio clips today. All the interviews were outside and the wind screwed up the sound. Hopefully tomorrow.

The cousin Alex Rodriguez said smuggled drugs into the United States for him, Yuri Sucart, was behind the wheel of the Chevrolet Suburban that picked him up from Dunedin Stadium today.

Rodriguez said earlier this month that a cousin obtained a performance-enhancing drug for him for a three-year period starting in 2001. That drug, the anabolic steroid Primobolan, is illegal to possess in the United States.

That person has since been identified as Sucart.

It is unlikely that Sucart will face any federal drug charges. But MLB could find Rodriguez’s continued association with a drug smuggler somewhat curious. Nick Swisher also was in the vehicle, which was granted permission to pull up next to the Yankees’ clubhouse in a secured area. Two other as yet unidentified men also were in the vehicle as it left the parking lot.

Rodriguez is expected to meet with MLB investigators later this week to discuss his actions. Given that, it might not have been wise to be seen with Sucart at the ballpark.