Joe Girardi stressing conditioning

At about this time last year it was the Yankees, not the Mets, who were wearing out the MRI machines, piling up injuries to such an extreme that they fired their new strength and conditioning coach. This year, with Joe Girardi running a more demanding spring training, the Yankees are fit and free of injury so far.

Cause and effect, or good fortune? And will it translate to a faster start than they had in recent seasons under Joe Torre? "All I know is we attacked a weakness," GM Brian Cashman was saying yesterday. "This was an area of weakness in 2007 and I needed to make sure it wasn't a weakness in 2008." Continue