The LoHud Yankees Blog

First they gathered in the right-field corner. Then they started jogging toward center. And with that, the first official workout of spring training was underway. There are quite a few fans gathered in the lower levels of the stadium, and the crowd began cheering the moment the Yankees started jogging.

The clock above the clubhouse door read 9:19 — of course the number nine was involved – when Mariano Rivera walked in from the hallway and began shaking hands with everyone in sight.

“Hello.”

“How are you?”

“Nice to see you.”

It was presidential, maybe even regal, the way he greeted everyone between the door and his locker. When he sat down, Rivera spoke for about 10 minutes. He said he’s not worried about his contract, that he doesn’t mind waiting until the offseason to negotiate. He said he wants to keep pitching as long as he’s capable of his lofty standards, but he wants to walk away the moment he starts slipping.

For now, he just wants to get back to work. Rivera’s spring training always moves at a slower pace than every other pitcher, and Rivera said he’s only tossed off flat ground this winter. He has yet to throw off a mound.

“I have enough time to do that,” he said.

UPDATE, 10:29 a.m.: Here’s the full audio of the Rivera interview. After he talked about wanting to pitch as long as he knows he can do it — “If I know, if I’m sure, 100 percent that I can do it, I will do it,” he said — someone asked Rivera if he can imagine a day when he’s no longer capable of pitching up to his standards. 

“One day that will happen, and that day I will go,” he said. “This is not mine. I will go and the baseball will not stop because I don’t play any more.”

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It was business as usual on Wednesday when the Yankees pitchers and catchers reported to the team’s spring training complex in Tampa.

The team went through the standard routine, with a few pitchers tossing in the bullpen, then talking to reporters about the upcoming season. The 2009 World Series was behind them, but so was the controversy that opened this camp a year ago. For better and for worse, the Yankees were just like every other team in baseball.

There wasn’t much breaking news coming out of Steinbrenner Field this morning. The Yankees pitchers and catchers showed up, then some of them talked, then all of them left. For a first day of spring training, it was pretty much exactly what you would expect.

As for some smaller notes from the day, here’s one that is quite literally smaller.

Who’s in shape and who’s not always seems to be an early spring training question, and the only player I saw who was a noticeably different size was Jonathan Albaladejo, who said he lost 30 pounds this winter. “A lot of running,” he said.

For the first time since he turned pro, Albaladejo did not play winter ball in Puerto Rico. He instead focused on getting into shape. “I definitely feel more fresh,” he said. “My arm feels more life.”

• For now, Phil Hughes is only throwing fastballs and changeups in his bullpen sessions, and he expects to throw one more bullpen before he mixes in curveballs and cutters. He compared the development of his changeup to last year’s development of the cutter. “I’ll concentrate on it all spring,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll get it to a point where it’s a solid pitch for me. It just comes with repetition.”

• Along the left wall, the first group of lockers goes in this order: CC Sabathia, Joba Chamberlain, Javier Vazquez, Chad Gaudin, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. That’s a clearly defined section if I’ve ever seen one.

• One random locker assignment comes on the right side of the back wall: Nick Swisher, Marcus Thames, Randy Winn, Curtis Granderson, Reid Gorecki and Mark Teixeira. Poor Gorecki is going to be surrounded by writers every day without being asked a single question. Unless it’s a question about one of the guys sitting near him.

• Congratulations to Mark Melancon, who got married this winter. Also congratulations to Jason Hirsh, who had hardly said hello before he flipped open his phone to show me a picture of his newborn.

• Speaking of Hirsh, I still consider him one of the sleepers of big league camp, and he came up with a great line to explain his offseason conditioning. ”Functional training instead of meathead lifting,” he said. Nice.

• Jorge Posada said he watched that World Series highlight DVD this winter. I’m sure a lot of Yankees watched it, but Posada was the first I’ve heard talking about it. “I watched it and you can’t believe it,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

• I doubt I’ll have any reason to write more than five words about D.J. Mitchell this winter, but I did get to meet him this morning. Really nice guy. He said he found out on Monday that the Yankees made him a late addition to big league camp. He drove from North Carolina to Tampa on Tuesday, and was in camp this morning. He’s a sinker baller who climbed from Low-A to High-A last season. The Yankees haven’t told him where they expect him to open this season.

Much of Joe Girardi’s opening spring training press conference was about defending a title, and whether that changes the Yankees focus as they prepare for 2010, but Girardi also went into some nuts and bolts of his team.

He talked about the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation, the decision of who to start in center field and the desire to have a set lineup when the Yankees break camp in a month and a half.

On the No. 5 starter: “I expect it to play out with great competition. The one thing as a manager that you worry about is they start competing tomorrow. I don’t want them to compete tomorrow. I want them to get ready to pitch in a couple of weeks, from a physical stand point.”

On the outfield: “Curtis has the most experience playing center field, and Curtis is a guy that we expect to play every day, but we want to have an open mind about this and see how each one of them does in left field. When you think about playing at our stadium, left field really plays almost as big as center field.”

On the batting order: “I really like the players that are assembled in camp, and we just have to figure out how all the parts fit.”

Here’s the full audio. Sorry this took a few hours. We had some technical issues that we hope to have fixed tomorrow. Those issues are why you’re getting the full file, including an introduction from media relations director Jason Zillo and a well played opening question from WFAN’s Sweeny Murti.

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One of the great things about blog interaction is that it often leads me to post information I would otherwise ignore. This is a prime example.

I was never one to care about jersey numbers – truth be told, I still don’t pay much attention to them – but I’ve gotten several emails wondering what numbers the new guys will be wearing. I don’t know how many of these will carry into the regular season, but here are the numbers for the new Yankees in spring training.

Most of the minor leaguers are given extremely high numbers — No. 98 Colin Curtis is the highest – but those numbers rarely carry into the season. Of all the guys on minor league contracts, the lowest number went to catcher Mike Rivera, who landed No. 12.

New additions
Greg Golson, 61
Curtis Granderson, 14
Jamie Hoffmann, 73
Nick Johnson, 27
Boone Logan, 48
Javier Vazquez, 31
Randy Winn, 22

Minor league free agents
Reid Gorecki, 66
Dustin Moseley, 40
Royce Ring, 47
Mike Rivera, 12
Zach Segovia, 70
Marcus Thames, 38
Jon Weber, 79
David Winfree, 78

New to the 40-man
Reegie Corona, 76
Hector Noesi, 74
Ivan Nova, 75
Eduardo Nunez, 94
Kevin Russo, 77
Romulo Sanchez, 67

Organizational minor leaguer
Wilkins Arias, 90
Jeremy Bleich, 86
Colin Curtis, 98
Grant Duff, 82
Kyle Higashioka, 92
Jason Hirsh, 60
Kei Igawa, 17
Brandon Laird, 97
Zach McAllister, 80
D.J. Mitchell, 72
Jesus Montero, 83
P.J. Pilittere, 85
Ryan Pope, 69
Austin Romine, 84
Amaury Sanit, 93
Jorge Vazquez, 95
Kevin Whelan, 81

On the left side of the Yankees spring training clubhouse, all the way at the back, the lockers line up like this: Jorge Posada in the corner, followed by Francisco Cervelli, Austin Romine and Mike Rivera. Jesus Montero, Kyle Higashioka and P.J. Pilittere are at the ends of the middle rows, the other spots reserved for catchers.

The catching job still belongs to Posada, but he’s surrounded by the future.

“For me it’s easy because these kids, they want to be taught,” Posada said. “Montero comes up to me and says, what are we going to do today?”

Posada’s not ready to give up the job just yet, though. He wouldn’t speculate how many games he’ll spend behind plate, but he said he’s come to spring training, “prepared to catch.”

“I want to play,” Posada said. “I like playing, I enjoy playing. If I’m not hurting the team, I want to be out there.”

Just got back from the Joe Girardi press conference. As expected, the bulk of the conversation was about attempting to repeat as World Series champions.

“The expectation here is the same every year,” Girardi said. “In a sense, you’re supposed to repeat every year… I don’t really consider (complacency) an issue because I know the people in the room.”

I’ll try to have audio and full details from Girardi’s media session later this afternoon. For now, a few quick hits…

• “I think our No. 1 concern is ironing out our lineup,” Girardi said. “When I say it’s a concern, I’m not concerned that we don’t have the players to do it, I’m concerned with where you place them.”

• There is competition on the pitching staff, but Girardi said he will make it clear that the competition does not begin right away. “Tomorrow the message will be, look, we’re just getting ready right now,” Girardi said.

• Interesting way to look at who should start in center field: It might have more to do with who is the best left fielder. Girardi said he has faith in both Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner in center, but he talked a lot about giving each of them time in left this spring. Obviously, guys like Randy Winn and Marcus Thames should get time in left field as well. “What is the best fit for each of the guys, not individually, but as a combination,” Girardi said. 

• What happens to the pitcher who doesn’t win the No. 5 spot in the rotation? “I would envision that they go to the bullpen,” Girardi said. He would like to have that rotation spot decided by March 25, but he’s willing to let the competition continue into the final week if necessary. Girardi also stressed that it’s not all about spring statistics.

• The Yankees will do another team outing, similar to last year’s afternoon of billiards. “We will do something again,” Girardi said. “Plans are subject to change, but our plan is to do it the day before our first game here.” Girardi said he hasn’t decided what the team will do, but suggestions of paintball and bowling left him feeling uneasy because he wants something with virtually zero injury risk. Nothing that involves running through the woods or swinging heavy objects.

Players are coming and going in the Yankees clubhouse this morning. These are the defending champs, but the room feels more or less the same as it has the past few years, and the players don’t expect it to change.

“I don’t think it will,” Phil Hughes said. “Last year was nice, but we have to do it again this year. At the end of 2010, I don’t think anyone will be talking about who won in ’09.”

The Yankees made relatively few additions to their pitching staff this winter. They traded away three pieces of the bullpen, replaced one of the lost left-handers and brought back Javier Vazquez. As pitchers and catchers report to the Yankees spring training complex this morning, Vazquez is not the biggest name, but he might be the key to making this year’s pitching staff better than last year’s.

Just to give everyone a heads up: The Yankees clubhouse opens to the media at 10 a.m., then we get Joe Girardi at noon. The clubhouse is open the entire two hours until Girardi talks, so there probably won’t be any time for major blog updating, but I’ll have plenty this afternoon. If I can sneak out of the clubhouse once or twice, I’ll try to post a quick iPhone update or two.

Welcome to spring training, everyone!