Yankees baseball blog

Gardner early lead in center

Brett Gardner doesn't quite fit the mold of legendary Yankee center fielders of the past such as Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle or even Bernie Williams.

But if the first three games of spring training are any indication, the 25-year-old might find himself manning what is arguably the most famous position in sports when the season opens on April 6.

Gardner, who homered on his first swing of the spring on Wednesday, went 2-for-2 with a walk, two stolen bases and a run scored in the Yankees' 5-4 loss to Twins yesterday at Hammond Stadium. Continue

One year later things are different for Hughes

What a difference a year makes for Phill Hughes.

A year ago, Hughes was locked in as one of the Yankees' five starters, one of three young pitchers the Bombers were counting on to return them to another October.

Thursday, Hughes took the ball to start the home opener at Steinbrenner field.

"I got to start a game, so it felt like last spring training," Hughes said. "I'm just going about it the same way I always have. It doesn't feel too different." Continue

A-Rod homers, rides with cousin mule

On the most positive day he has experienced in almost three weeks, Alex Rodriguez managed to add fuel to the steroid scandal he desperately wants to vanish.

As he predicted to p.r. man Jason Zillo before the game, Rodriguez homered - in his second at-bat - against the Blue Jays and turned a negative reaction from the Dunedin Stadium crowd into a positive.

Then, after meeting with reporters and signing autographs outside the Yankees' clubhouse, Rodriguez strolled to a maroon SUV with two unidentified men who didn't have credentials. Continue

Wait and see for fan reaction toward A-Rod

 And so it begins for Alex Rodriguez.

Ever since he admitted this month that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-03, Rodriguez has been preparing for the season in the safe haven of the Yankees' complex. Fans here mostly have cheered and voiced their support for him.

That all will change today at the Yankees' exhibition opener in Dunedin against the Blue Jays. Let's just say the crowd reaction should be a tad different. Continue

Melancon impressive early

Mark Melancon looked at the workout schedule Sunday morning, a daily ritual for virtually every player in camp. He knew he was penciled in for live batting practice, but when the 23-year-old saw Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano were in the group hitting against him, he texted his father back in Colorado.

"He said, 'Just picture your mom standing in there,'" Melancon said. "I said, 'No thanks. I'll be fine.'"

Melancon was right. He threw 30 pitches during his session, getting Jeter to swing and miss a couple times and breaking Cano's bat with a filthy four-seam fastball. Continue

A.J. not lacking confidence

A.J. Burnett has no problem with fans who question his $82.5-million contract.

He has no issues with people who wonder if he can stay healthy, either. He knows he has a lengthy injury history.

"I've been on the disabled list [10 times]," said Burnett, 32. "I would think the same thing. The bottom line is, it's true. I've been hurt a lot. Those are the facts. What am I supposed to say, that I wasn't hurt? I was." Continue

Son of Yankees VP trafficked steroids in 2002

 The son of a Yankees senior vice president pleaded guilty to attempted steroid distribution charges in 2003 as part of a federal investigation into a date-rape drug, according to public records from Tampa police and Hillsborough County Court obtained by Newsday.

Felix M. Lopez III, the son of George Steinbrenner's son-in-law Felix M. Lopez Jr., was charged with trafficking illegal steroids in 2002, a first-degree felony that was punishable by up to life in prison. Lopez III, 30, cut a plea deal in which he received three years of probation for pleading guilty to possession with intent, which is a second-degree felony, according to Hillsborough County Court records. Continue

The company A-Rod keeps

Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez has had a long relationship with a steroid-linked trainer who's been banned from major league clubhouses, four independent sources told the Daily News.

Angel Presinal, who was banned from private areas of every MLB ballpark after an October 2001 incident involving an unmarked gym bag full of steroids, has been tight with the Yankee slugger dating back to his time with the Texas Rangers, several sources said.

A former New York-area scout says Presinal, whose named surfaced in the Mitchell Report, was with Rodriguez in New York and Miami as recently as this past fall.

MLB has warned players to stay away from him.

"He's an unsavory character," said a source. Continue

A-Fraud's cousin is........

The mysterious "cousin" that Alex Rodriguez claims provided and injected him with steroids from 2001-2003 has been identified as a Miami man named Yuri Sucart, according to a report early Thursday morning on ESPN.com.

According to the Web site, Sucart's wife, Carmen, confirmed that it was her husband who Rodriguez was referring to when he said in a nationally televised press conference that his cousin had injected him with what he referred to as "boli," street slang in the Dominican Republic for the hardcore steroid Primobolan. Continue

A-Rod shames self and Yanks

It wasn't as bad as R. Budd Dwyer's last press conference 22 years ago, when the Pennsylvania treasurer shot himself to death on national television. But yesterday's performance by Alex Rodriguez was full of holes.

Rodriguez wanted to face the media at George M. Steinbrenner Field to explain his use of steroids from 2001 to 2003. Instead of putting a lid on issues, Rodriguez added gasoline by outing an unnamed cousin as a drug mule between the Dominican Republic and the United States and saying the cousin injected him - two times a month for six months during each of the three seasons. Furthermore, Rodriguez said he didn't know if the drug worked. Continue