Yankees Spring Training Notes: Day Three

Today is the final day of spring training that doesn’t involve Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the position players. Up until now, guys like Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher have been across the street at the minor league complex.

The Yankees are preparing for a press conference with A-Rod where he will greet the rest of the press, not just Peter Gammons, and talk about his use of steroids.

Last year Andy Pettitte said that “the truth will set you free.” Well, let’s hope A-Rod understands what that means and doesn’t lie like he did when talking to Gammons (he said Selena Roberts tried to break into his Miami home; he later apologized for that too).

With Alex will be manager Joe Girardi, Jeter, Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and some other players, possibly Mark Teixeira. They’ll probably be there mostly for support, but I would guess that Jeter will probably use that time to say his piece on the issue and then put it behind him.

In some actual baseball news, Brian Cashman spoke with reporters and said that other teams had interest in both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy during the offseason, but the Yankees decided not to deal them. He said that he feels like the team needs as much pitching as possible and thinks both will eventually hit their projections.

Kennedy said not having a guaranteed spot has made him more driven this season.

Peter Abraham has been doing an amazing job updating us all on every mundane detail of spring. I can’t get enough, and I think everyone should stop by his blog daily.

He reports that Francisco Cervelli was not at camp today because of an upper respiratory infection that has been going around. Also, Jason Johnson skipped camp today for personal reasons.

Mark Teixeira, who was a rookie in 2003 with the Texas Rangers, said that he had no idea of the steroid culture that was all around him. Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and of course A-Rod were on that team.

According to Abraham, Cashman said he has no problem starting the season with both Xavier Nady and Swisher. That’s good because of all the Ken Griffey Jr. and Atlanta Braves rumors floating around; neither of them is likely to go anywhere.

Chad Jennings reports that the Yankees don’t plan on using Humberto Sanchez as a starter. It’s mostly about keeping him healthy as opposed to him not having the stuff to start.

Jennings also reported that both George Kontos and Eric Hacker are likely to remain starters. Also, Alan Horne and J.B. Cox both seem to be on the mend. Horne was injured for most of last season and is rehabbing nicely, and Cox had a poor second half after coming back from Tommy John surgery.

All of that information came from Jennings’ interview with Nardi Contreras.