The LoHud Yankees Blog

Can’t make too much of the Yankees rotation on February 22, but for now it’s the only thing we know about the most uncertain part of the roster. In the competition to fill the final two starting spots, Bartolo Colon will have the first chance to impress.

“I feel ready,” Colon said through a translator. “I pitched a lot in the winter, and I know I pitched very good. I’m ready to demonstrate to the Yankees that I’m ready to pitch.”

It was that winter success that led the Yankees to sign Colon, and it was that winter experience that led Joe Girardi to choose him for the spring opener. Girardi said Colon is “possibly a little more ready” than some of the other starters.

This morning, though, while Colon was pitching on the back field, Girardi was on the main field watching Freddy Garcia.

“He looked pretty good to me,” Girardi said. “As I’ve said all along, Freddy knows how to pitch, and he knows how to compete. He knows what he has to do to get ready. He threw a lot of strikes and he mixed his pitches and he looked OK.”

• Girardi said the current rotation alignment of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes — in that order — is not necessarily indicative of the way the rotation will line up in April. “Things might bounce around a little bit, but right now that’s how we have them lined up,” Girardi said.

• Girardi has previously said Sergio Mitre will start games this spring, but Girardi said he hasn’t mapped out when Mitre might make his first start. “I’m not out that far,” he said. So far we only know the first six starters. Mitre will work out of the bullpen for now.

• Will Mariano Rivera throw a bullpen tomorrow? “I don’t know exactly,” Girardi said. “That’s not a question I ask on a daily basis, when Mo is going to throw. I know he’ll be ready when we leave here.”

• Girardi said it’s too early to know much about Mark Prior, but he liked what he saw out of Prior — and Boone Logan — during today’s early morning live batting practice sessions. “I thought (Prior) threw the ball pretty good,” Girardi said. “To me it’s still early. This is a guy that hasn’t pitched a lot lately, and it’s still early, but I thought he threw the ball OK. So did Booney.”

• Speaking of guys throwing to hitters: “I’ve actually been really happy with the way our guys have thrown BP, collectively as a group,” Girardi said. “I haven’t seen everyone because I’m on one field, but I’ve been pleased.”

• The Yankees did some team fielding drills this morning. There was a player at every position — some taking turns at a position — and the pitcher would pretend to throw a pitch, at which point Tony Pena would shoot a fly ball with a ball machine. He spread the fly balls to different players, including infielders, and everyone reacted accordingly (backing up, hitting the cutoff man, covering bases, etc). Nothing unusual or especially insightful, just the first the Yankees have done that sort of full-squad drill this spring.

• I only saw the team fielding drills on the main field, didn’t see the half of the team that was going through the same drills in the back. If you’re interested, here’s the defensive alignment on the main field: 1B Teixeira, 2B Russo/Pena, SS Pena/Maruszak, 3B Rodriguez/Laird, LF Golson/Curtis, CF Gardner/Mesa, RF Swisher/Maxwell. Not that I think it matters very much, but thought it was kind of interesting that they had Gardner doing his work in center instead of left.

• During batting practice, groups that aren’t hitting take more ground balls and fly balls, just like during BP during the season. Today, Eric Chavez split his BP defensive drills between third base and first base.

• Speaking of Chavez, it occurred to me today that the Yankees have Brandon Laird in a defensive drills group with Rodriguez and in a hitting group with Chavez. That means, any time Laird is on the field, he’s with either Rodriguez or Chavez, two third basemen who can give the kid plenty of advice about big league success. Eduardo Nunez hits and fields with Derek Jeter.

• Speaking of Nunez, he caught my eye during batting practice today. I saw him hit one ball out to left-center and he seemed to be consistently driving the ball to all fields.

• Jeter likes the Carmelo Anthony trade. “The Knicks made a good trade,” he said. “It was a good job. Carmelo is going to help them out. Everyone in New York is excited about it.”

Associated Press photos of Garcia, Sabathia and Jeter

Hank Steinbrenner said this afternoon that he was not referring to Derek Jeter when he said some players were “too busy building mansions” to concentrate on winning last season.

“It was a euphemism, that’s all it was,” Steinbrenner said. “It was a generalization, a euphemism. Bad choice of a euphemism, but it was a euphemism. That’s all it was.”

Steinbrenner stood by his notion that the 2010 Yankees lost some of their competitive hunger last season — he compared them to the Steelers in the wake of their Super Bowl win — but he said he was not referring to any of the Core Four, especially not Jeter.

“It certainly isn’t Derek,” Steinbrenner said. “Derek’s got 5 rings. You don’t’ win five rings by being complacent. So it was definitely not Derek I was talking about. It wasn’t obviously a few other players either who had big years, but in the end, we’ve got to win. Everybody’s noticed this team, these players have come in this spring with a completely different attitude than last spring. Kind of like it was in ‘09, in spring training of 09, and that’s what makes me feel pretty good about the situation.”

Here’s Hank speaking to the media — seriously — from the middle of the dining room here at Steinbrenner Field.

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Joe Girardi just announced that Bartolo Colon will start Saturday’s spring opener. Colon pitched winter ball, so the Yankees believe he’s a little more ready than the other guys.

Ivan Nova will start the second game followed by CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia. First time through the rotation, Sergio Mitre will be available out of the bullpen.

After a few team defense drills — fly balls, relay throws, backing up in foul territory — the Yankees latest live batting practice sessions have started up.

On the main field, it’s Freddy Garcia. On the back field, it’s Bartolo Colon. I chose the back field, if only out of curiosity. I had no idea what to expect, but I’ll say this.

I thought Colon looked pretty good.

Russel Martin took him deep to left, but Colon seemed to have legitimate zip on his fastball. When he missed, he seemed to miss low. That’s just an observation from the sideline, and I could be completely wrong, but I came away feeling like Colon was more legitimate than I originally thought.

On the day after Hank Steinbrenner basically accused Derek Jeter of caring more about his mansion than his performance, Jeter stood at his locker this morning and laughed. Then he laughed some more.

“I’m not upset,” he said over and over again.

I’m sure he’s not. Jeter reminded us all that his name never specifically mentioned — though it was impossible to take Steinbrenner’s comments as a reference to anyone but the Captain — and he said an owner should always be allowed to state his opinion. That was true of George Steinbrenner, and it has to be true for Hank.

“An owner is an owner,” Jeter said.

Really, this whole thing seemed to be a running joke in the Yankees clubhouse. Everyone laughed a little when it was brought up. One Yankee said he wasn’t the one in trouble. “I built a deer stand,” he said. These things are easy to blow off at the moment. The only lingering concern would be whether this will become a regular occurrence. It’s one thing to be asked about a random mansion comment in spring training, it’s another to be asked about a random mansion comment five or six times a year.

“I’m not moving,” Jeter said. “So we won’t be talking about this again.”

• Bradley Suttle said Mark Prior looked pretty sharp during this morning’s live batting practice session. He said Prior was throwing a fastball, slider and a kind of forkball. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Prior, but my guess is that he uses the forkball as a substitute for a changeup.

• Suttle is a switch hitter, but because the Yankees want their pitcher to face both lefties and righties, he took some right-handed at-bats against Prior. He also took some left-handed at-bats against Boone Logan, who also threw live batting practice this morning. It’s a strange feeling, Suttle said.

• CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett threw regular bullpens this morning. The big league starters are different schedules than the relievers. Phil Hughes said he’s not facing batters until tomorrow. Some pitchers are now on a schedule of throwing one day, then taking two off before pitching again.

• Rafael Soriano is scheduled to throw a bullpen this morning.

• For those of you really into numbers, Addison Maruszak is wearing No. 76.

• Tomorrow is photo day for the Yankees. The sign in the clubhouse says to wear home whites, long sleeves and game hats. There’s also this note: “Please be Clean Shaven.”

• Live batting practice:

Freddy Garcia (to Kyle Higashioka)
Luis Ayala (to Gustavo Molina)
Buddy Carlyle (to Gustavo Molina)
Ryan Pope (to Austin Romine)
Bartolo Colon (to Francisco Cervelli)
Sergio Mitre (to Jesus Montero)
Robert Fish (to Jesus Montero)
Hector Noesi (to Jose Gil)

• Hitting groups:

Infield Group 1: Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Eduardo Nunez, Jorge Posada
Infield Group 2: Ronnie Belliard, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Kyle Higashioka
Infield Group 3: Doug Bernier, Brad Suttle, Jorge Vazquez, Addison Maruszak, Gustavo Molina
Infield Group 4: Eric Chavez, Brandon Laird, Kevin Russo, Austin Romine
Outfield Group 1: Greg Golson, Andruw Jones, Nick Swisher, Russell Martin
Outfield Group 2: Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Justin Maxwell, Francisco Cervelli
Outfield Group 3: Daniel Brewer, Austin Krum, Ramiro Pena, Jesus Montero
Outfield Group 4: Colin Curtis, Jordan Parraz, Melky Mesa, Jose Gil

• Fielding groups: Exact same as yesterday

Catcher Group 1: Jose Gil, Russell Martin, Gustavo Molina, Jesus Montero
Catcher Group 2: Francisco Cervelli, Kyle Higashioka, Jorge Posada, Austin Romine

Infield Group 1: Doug Bernier, Robinson Cano, Eric Chavez, Derek Jeter, Eduardo Nunez, Brad Suttle, Jorge Vazquez
Infield Group 2: Ronnie Belliard, Brandon Laird, Ramiro Pena, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Russo, Mark Teixeira

Outfield Group 1: Daniel Brewer, Curtis Granderson, Andruw Jones, Austin Krum, Jordan Parraz
Outfield Group 2: Colin Curtis, Brett Gardner, Greg Golson, Justin Maxwell, Melky Mesa, Nick Swisher

Associated Press photos of Jeter (on the day he arrived in camp) and Prior (during this morning’s live BP)

A big crowd just walked off the main field here at Steinbrenner Field.

Mark Prior was on the mound, throwing early batting practice to Bradley Suttle, who hit from both sides of the plate against the right-hander.

It’s hard to make any sort of judgment based on a late-February batting practice session against a Double-A hitter, but so far Prior has stayed healthy and progressed just like every other pitcher in camp. He’s being looked at strictly as a relief option, and it will be interesting to see if he can pitch his way into the mix by the time the Yankees break camp at the end of March.

For now, he’s just another guy on a minor league invitation. An interesting guy, but not necessarily a guy the Yankees can count on for 2011.

Looks like CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are heading to the bullpen right now. Sabathia just finished tossing on flat ground to get loose, now Burnett is about to do the same.

I mentioned Andrew Brackman earlier today, but I think it’s worth mentioning again, if only so you can hear the guy speak.

After Joe Girardi raved about Brackman this afternoon, the entire beat crew surrounded Brackman’s locker just before the Rodriguez press conference. He couldn’t have been expecting it, and he seemed surprised to look up to see at least a dozen guys beginning to circle around him, but Brackman had been there before. He was a first-round pick backin 2007, so he’s carried the weight of expectation and attention for a long time. I was surprised at just how comfortable he seemed — not arrogant or boastful, just at ease — in that sort of spotlight.

Brackman said he’s focusing on the steady progression that got him to this point, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that he has an outside chance of winning a big league spot. He notices when Girardi is watching him, it just doesn’t affect him the way it used to.

“I think that’s what hurt me my first and second year as a young guy coming up,” he said. “All the big guys are behind there watching you, so you kind of want to say, ‘I can do more with this pitch’ or ‘I can make this breaking ball better.’ Larry (Rothschild) gave me some really good advice the other day: Your stuff comes second. It’s all about repeating your mechanics. If you can repeat and repeat, your stuff will come.”

Here’s Brackman. Give it a listen.

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I doubt it’s any coincidence that Brandon Laird has been taking ground balls at third base right alongside Alex Rodriguez, just like I doubt it’s any coincidence that Eduardo Nunez is taking his shortstop reps with Derek Jeter. Extremely young players might not be comfortable with the superstars, but the guys on the verge need to rub shoulders with the best, and they need to learn from the best.

“I always saw that part in (Rodriguez),” Joe Girardi said. “He’d put his arm around young players and talk to them about the game. There’s been a lot of talk about how he was with Melky (Cabrera) and Robbie Cano when they were young. I was just watching him today with Brandon Laird. It was great. Talking to Brandon about things to do in bunt situations and why he does certain things. He was really good.”

It’s interesting that today Rodriguez seemed perfectly at ease in the press conference tent behind Steinbrenner Field. He opened with a joke, made fun of the press for asking him about “popcorn and losing five pounds” and had no problem heaping expectations on himself after two season that were “not acceptable” according to his standards.

“(The steroid admission) might have been a big step to that,” Girardi said. “Andy (Pettitte) has always talked about, the truth sets you free, and it takes a weight off your shoulders (no longer) living with, is someone going to find out? To me, you’re able to relax and be able to put it behind you and move forward and concentrate on the things that you need to concentrate on instead of maybe your focus being taken away. And I think that was a big step.”

Here’s the audio plus some more notes from today’s Rodriguez press conference.

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• The theme of today’s press conference seemed to be the new A-Rod, lighter in every since of the word. Not only has he shed some weight, he’s also unburdened by some of the things that haunted him in the past. “I believe I’m in a better place,” he said. “After all the things that have gone on, I felt a sense of liberation. I’m just really enjoying my life, enjoying the game and enjoying my teammates.”

• Rodriguez also went out of his way — more than once — to say that the Yankees need him to be better than he was last season. “I know that our team goal is to win a championship,” he said. “And I think in order for us to do that, I think certain guys have to step up. And I’m one of those guys. I’m expecting a nice year.”

• Dr. Marc Philippon was encouraged by what he found during an offseason exam and told Rodriguez that he’s back to 100 percent. Rodriguez still has to check in twice a year, but right now he’s confident that the hip problems are behind him.

• On his offseason training: “This is as healthy as I’ve felt over the last several years. I went down to see Philippon either in late-November or December and he gave me the full green light to actually go out and train like I usually do. The last several years, I’ve probably been 60-70 percent rehab, 30 percent training. This year, he actually let me go out, gave me the green light to do 100 percent training, get ready to play baseball. That said, I don’t make any excuses for what I’ve done the last several years, because no one wants to hear excuses, but at the end of the day, it’s been fun getting back to work.”

• On the state of the Yankees: “I hear there are a lot of doubters out there. That’s always fun. The bottom line is that we won 95 games last year and we have pretty much the same core coming back this year. We were two wins shy of the World Series, and with the exception of Swish and Robbie, I think the other seven guys, if you ask them, all of them would tell you there’s a lot of room for improvement. That starts with me. We expect to do a lot of good things, and in order for us to do that, I know that I have to play at an elite level. I’m ready for that challenge. I think all our guys are ready for that challenge.”

• On his struggles against lefties last season: “That’s one that puzzles me, because I love hitting against lefties. The numbers didn’t say that last year, so it’s something I have to work on and I’m going to focus on. I’m pretty confident that will be addressed very well this year.”

• On his advice to CC Sabathia regarding the opt-out: “I’m not the guy that should be giving any advice about anything to do with contracts, but I know that CC enjoys being a Yankee very much. I know his family likes it here. He has a beautiful home. I know the Yankees, we love having him here, and I don’t foresee him wearing another uniform any time soon.”

• On his expectations for Derek Jeter: “I think he’s not the only one that’s going to have a chip on his shoulder this year. I think if you look at our lineup (and) pitchers, there are a lot of people in there that want something to prove. The feeling we were left with in Texas is one that was not good. I think Jeter is going to do what he always does, have Derek Jeter-type year, which is over 200 hits, be very productive and I expect him to get right back to form.”

Associated Press photos

Andrew Brackman is not new to Yankees camp. He’s a familiar face around here, and almost everyone in the big league clubhouse is long past first impressions of the tall right-hander.

But Justin Maxwell is new. He arrived in Tampa having only heard of Brackman, and today Maxwell faced the highly touted prospect for the first time in live batting practice. Maxwell’s first impression?

“Really good command,” he said.

Never would have heard that two years ago. Today, Brackman opened eyes with an impressive batting practice session that included all of his pitches, and most importantly, included a bunch of strikes.

“He’s much further ahead than he was (at this time last year),” Joe Girardi said. “He had a hard time consistently throwing strikes, where now it appears that’s behind him. You look at what he’s done the second half of last year, what he’s done here in spring training, he’s throwing a lot of strikes. That’s a big part of the battle when you’re pitching.”

As Mark Feinsand detailed this weekend, Brackman has been fighting that battle ever since his 2007 Tommy John surgery, and he finally seems to be winning after a breakout 2010 season in Trenton.

“My first two camps, those BPs would have been awful,” Brackman said. “Nowhere near the plate or anything like that. The further away I get from surgery, the more comfortable I get on the mound.”

• Hank Steinbrenner spoke after the Rodriguez press conference this afternoon, including a comment that seemed to be a shot at Derek Jeter. In fact, I have a hard time coming up with another way to take it: “Sometimes I think maybe they celebrated a little too much last year,” Steinbrenner said. “Some of the players are too busy building mansions and doing other things, not concentrating on winning. I have no problem saying that. I think they’ve come into this spring with a new hunger.” There’s always something unexpected that pops up around here.

• Jorge Posada did the catching portion of team fielding drills this morning. It was the first time he’d gone through catching drills. The Yankees still haven’t had him squatting or throwing to second base, but that will happen soon. He’s supposed to catch a bullpen Wednesday or Thursday. “He’s been great talking to the players and being involved, but we haven’t asked him to do much behind the plate,” Girardi said.

• Mariano Rivera will throw his first bullpen this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. “It won’t be long now,” Girardi said.

• Girardi said no injury concerns have popped up. Gustavo Molina was dealing with a quad issue, but he caught a bullpen today and is feeling fine.

• Just a personal observation: Eric Chavez still looks awfully good at third base. He made some solid plays going to his right during batting practice.

• Speaking of BP defense: Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Eduardo Nunez were taking turns fielding grounders at shortstop — it’s just a ground ball drill, the position on the field doesn’t really matter — and after Jeter charged a ball kind of awkwardly, Nunez started dancing around in shallow left field, mocking the Captain’s approach. Cano and Jeter were cracking up, and Jeter gave Nunez a little shove.

• I mentioned it earlier today, but Ronnie Belliard got some time at first base after working at second yesterday. Kevin Russo worked at second after working in the outfield yesterday.

• Boone Logan signed autographs for a while after the morning long toss session. One of his throws had sailed way over Buddy Carlyle and hit a little girl in the stands, so Logan tried to make up for it. Head’s up people! Even the pros let one slip every now and then.

• Joe Girardi is still trying to figure out, plan and schedule a team outing, but there aren’t many options, and the dates are limited before this weekend’s first game. Friday might be the best bet. “We’re going to try,” Girardi said.

Associated Press photos. That’s Kyle Higashioka at the top.

Could a lighter Alex Rodriguez mean a more powerful Alex Rodriguez?

“Kevin Long described it as, he likes to have power, but with the freedom of a swing,” Rodriguez said this afternoon. “I think over the last several years — you’ll have to talk to K-Long a little bit more about it — but he felt there were some restrictions in my swing and some limitations. I think it affected my power.”

Rodriguez said he didn’t necessarily set a weight goal this offseason, but going through his normal offseason training dropped him back down to his normal weight. It’s not a drastic change — Rodriguez said he was up to 230, now he’s down to 222 or 223 — but it’s enough to make him feel a difference. The last time he played at this weight was 2007 and earlier in Texas. Today Rodriguez feels “quicker on (his) feet,” and he’s added flexibility.

“Kevin Long believes that in order for the power swing to be perfectly right, he really wants you to stroke the ball to left-center,” Rodriguez said. “We always hear right-center, and he has his reasoning behind it, and a lot of it has to do with flexibility, which I think I’ve gotten back.”

Ideally, Rodriguez will stay around this weight throughout spring training, maybe gain a pound or two.

“It’s probably going to be from 222 to 226, and that’ll be where I range,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a weight that I feel really good (about) right now. Probably 224, 225 Opening Day start, that would be perfect.”

Associated Press photo