The LoHud Yankees Blog

Johnny Damon (who else?) has a large portable speaker stack on wheels that you can plug an iPod into. Music is generally not allowed in the clubhouse except for after games.

But Nick Swisher, unfamiliar with the buttoned-down ways of the Yankees, plugged his iPod in and turned up the tunes. “My clubhouse mix,” he said. “I listen to a lot of country. But I have some other stuff, too.”

His other stuff was solid. He played Live Your Life by T.I. and Rihanna and One More Drink by Ludacris and T-Pain. The guys were digging it.

Meanwhile, there will be live batting practice today. Brian Bruney and Joba Chamberlain will face Damon, A-Rod, Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada.

CC Sabathia will take on Justin Leone, John Rodruguez, Chase Weems and Ramiro Pena. Good luck to those guys.

The team is on the field now and I’ll be back later on with some reports and iPhone photos.

Bernie Williams is in the clubhouse. He’s here to prepare for the WBC.

No, he’s not on the roster

Fans and media spent much of the winter doubting Brian Cashman’s assertion that either Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner would play center field. And with good reason, too. C-Money once pledged his love for Bubba Crosby only to sneak in at the last minute and sign Johnny Damon.

But it’s Feb. 19 and the the center field at this stage will be either the gritty, gutty Gardner or the rocket-armed Melkman.

Obviously much can change between now and April 6 or any time after. But the Yankees seem prepared to pick of these guys, have them hit ninth and move along with the season.

Damon, now the left fielder, could play center at the risk of burning out his aging legs. Or the Yankees would wedge Nick Swisher into the position. He has experience there but he’s not especially good.

Or perhaps Cashman should dip into his inventory of prospects and make a trade.

Who do you like? Vote over in the poll to the right and explain your choice in the comments section.

Today is photo day. Starting with the coaches at 8 a.m. and the players at 8:15 a.m., everybody in uniform poses for a series of photographers wearing their full uniforms. Pitchers hold a glove and ball and position players a bat.

These are shots for baseball cards, newspapers, magazines, web sites, etc. It’s one of those rituals of spring training that every team endures.

The Yankees will be on the field around 9:30 for the workout. It is overcast in Tampa with a chance of rain. But there are enough indoor facilities for them to get done what they need to get done.

(Just a reminder, the LoHud Yankees Blog is all-natural today. Please, no talk about steroids.)

Alex Rodriguez had an uneventful first day while Derek Jeter had some strong opinions on the tenor of the times.

Hideki Matsui’s days as an outfielder appear over. This notebook also has information on the likely lineup, Melky’s WBC defection, Damaso Marte and Austin Jackson.

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Reminder, today’s blog is all-natural. No steroids talk. Thanks.

Good morning.

Starting right now and going until midnight, the LoHud Yankees Blog is a steroid-free zone.

There will be no posts or comments about steroids, the list of 104 names, Gene Orza, Dominican pharmacies, Jose Canseco, Primobolan, mysterious cousins or Selena Roberts.

Feel free to talk about who makes the bullpen, who plays center, whether Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher plays right field, how many pinstripes did it take to make CC’s pants or anything else having to do with the wonderful game of baseball as it is played on the field.

I’ll do my part by only posting about baseball. You do your part by minding the rules for a day within the comments section.

(Disclaimer: If the FBI suddenly raids Steinbrenner Field or the list is leaked and it’s 103 Yankees, I reserve the right to report that. Let’s hope not.)

I realize that PEDs are a hot topic and we all have opinions about it. But we’ve all been hammering this subject like a Arthur Rhodes fastball for a week now. We can stop for a day.

Thanks for playing along. Back later on with coverage of the second full-squad workout.

I think that will be it for the blogging today. Thanks to everybody for reading.

I’m thinking (hoping?) that tomorrow could be a day to ban steroids talk from the blog and give everybody a break from this mess for at least 24 hours.

Good idea? Let me know what you think in the comments section and I will abide by the will of the people.

UPDATE, 9:13 p.m.: ESPN is reporting that A-Rod will face questioning from MLB investigators into his steroids use. This is what happened with Jason Giambi last season. Do not expect much to come of it. MLB now has an investigations unit and this is what they do.

Meanwhile, you Jetertologists out there should study that audio I posted earlier. The Captain is a smart dude.

He said how much the team would support Alex several times and in several ways. But he also went out of his way to say how upset he was over having played in what is now known as the “Steroids Era.”

“One thing that is irritating and it really upsets me a lot is when you hear everybody say, `It was the Steroids Era. Everybody was doing it.’ You know, that’s not true. Everybody was not doing it,” he said.

“I think it sends the wrong message to fans, to baseball fans; I think it sends the wrong message to kids, saying that everybody was doing it, because that’s just not the truth. I understand there’s a lot of people who are big-name players that have come out and allegedly done this and done that, but everybody wasn’t doing it.”

Jeter was speaking for all the clean players today and making it clear that he is furious with the cheaters for casting such a cloud over the game.

Jeter rarely shows such emotion in interviews. He said pretty much the same thing several times.

Then there was this from Joe Girardi when he was asked about Alex’s character:

“Well, that’s not an opinion I would necessarily share. I know that Alex wants to improve who he is on a daily basis.”

Now keep in mind this is Joe Girardi. This is a guy who has something good to say about everybody.

The Yankees will say the right things about A-Rod and do whatever it takes to make him comfortable on the field. He’s too important to the season not to. But from Brian Cashman down to Girardi, Jeter and many others, they are pretty ticked.

Alex has some amends to make. In a way, they’re lucky this happened now and not in June. The Yankees have time to smooth it out.

Suzyn Waldman will host a Hot Stove baseball show on WCBS (880-AM) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Her guests will include Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter, Chad Curtis, Bob DuPuy, Kevin Kennedy and some guy who has a Yankees blog.

If you’re not in the New York, you can listen on line.

First up is Derek Jeter, who we talked to while he was in the dugout after the workout today.

I should warn you, all of the questions were about A-Rod, steroids, or A-Rod using steroids. He was supportive of A-Rod but admitted to being disappointed in what he did.

Derek said (again) that he has never done any PEDs and credited his upbringing. Here’s the interview:

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Then we have the manager, who talked about Matsui, his lineup, A-Rod and a few other things:

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I have some newspaper stories to write. Plus I’m calling every “Rodriguez” in the Miami phone book. Back later.