Yankees baseball blog

Hank takes shot at Jeter

If you thought the ugliness between the Yankees and Derek Jeter was over, think again.

Hank Steinbrenner took a shot at the captain on Monday, questioning Jeter's hunger with a not-so-thinly-veiled comment.

"Sometimes I think maybe they celebrated a little too much last year," Steinbrenner said of his team. "Some of the players are too busy building mansions and doing other things, not concentrating on winning. I have no problem saying that."

Asked if any other player besides Jeter was building a mansion, Steinbrenner said he wasn't referring to anybody in particular. (News)

Hank is confident for 2010

Maybe it was just coincidence, but on the day after an NFL owner ridiculed the free-spending Yankees for even needing a GM, Hank Steinbrenner made some rare public comments in Tampa praising Brian Cashman for the moves he has made this off-season.

Steinbrenner, who was practically invisible last season while brother Hal stepped forward publicly as the new ownership face of the Yankees, spoke to an AP reporter at the team's minor-league complex. Continue

Hank backing A-Rod '100 percent'

 Hank Steinbrenner, in a roadside interview outside the Yankees' spring training complex last night, said he supported Alex Rodriguez "100 percent" and wasn't angry with the Yankees' third baseman.

Steinbrenner, who has been much less conspicuous than his younger brother Hal, made the comments from the driver's seat of his black BMW as he exited the spring training field named after his father.

Asked what he thought of the A-Rod situation, Hank said: "Not much, just we support him and we're going to do everything we can to make his season a successful one, to help him do that ... I'm not angry at him at all and I support him 100 percent."Continue

Hank: I'm still in charge here!

Sitting behind his desk at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Hank Steinbrenner yesterday spit on the notion he has taken a step back in running the Yankees. "There is one very important point here," Steinbrenner told The Post during an exclusive half-hour session. "The most important thing to remember is this: If you didn't get it from me or my brother [Hal], it doesn't mean [anything]. I don't care about some piss-ant employee. If you don't get it from me or Hal, it's meaningless. I have a lot of things [in Tampa] and Hal is in New York, which is good."

Asked if he has taken a step back, Steinbrenner emphatically said, "No." Since The Boss turned over the day-to-day operations to his sons, Hank has one regret. "I should have pushed harder for the [Johan] Santana deal," said Hank, who was talked out of signing Santana by Hal and GM Brian Cashman because they believed the Yankees' talent (Phil Hughes,Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera) and the money (Santana signed a six-year, $137.5 million extension with the Mets) was too costly. Continue

Hank says Girardi is returning

This can be filed under the obvious classification that Halle Berry is good looking. Yesterday in Tampa, Hank Steinbrenner surprised nobody when he said Joe Girardi will return for a second year as the Yankees New York Yankees manager. "Joe will be back," Steinbrenner said. "He's done everything he could. That's the bottom line."

Even before Steinbrenner's remarks Girardi wasn't expected to pay for the worst Yankee season in more than a decade with his job. He is in the first season of a three-year deal. GM Brian Cashman and Steinbrenner have repeatedly said the sad season isn't Girardi's fault. Continue

Baby boss: don't blame Joe

Life in the honeymoon suite sure is sweet. Hank Steinbrenner yesterday said the entire Yankees organization is at fault for the team's unacceptable showing in the standings, with one notable exception: Joe Girardi isn't part of the problem, according to the Baby Boss. "As far as Girardi is concerned, who I think is brilliant, this is his first year and he's had to play the hand he was dealt," Steinbrenner said during the Yankees' 3-2 victory over the Red Sox at the Stadium. Continue

Hank: Blame injuries for Yankees' struggles

Hank Steinbrenner broke his silence yesterday to tell The Associated Press he thought injuries were the reason the Yankees have not performed better this year. Steinbrenner told the AP in Tampa that although he is not giving up on 2008, he sees injuries as the Yankees' biggest impediment. They have endured disabled-list stints - some lengthy - by Jorge Posada, Chien-Ming Wang, Hideki Matsui, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Phil Hughes and Brian Bruney.

Said Steinbrenner: "I think it's very simple: We've been devastated by injuries. No team I've ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team. Imagine the Red Sox without [Josh] Beckett and [Jon] Lester. Pitching is 70 percent of the game. Wang won 19 games two straight years. Chamberlain became the most dominating pitcher in baseball. You can't lose two guys like that. Continue

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Hank: Yanks are ready to make run

Hank Steinbrenner believes that the Yankees will be just fine, and should be able to make a 14th straight playoff appearance in spite of the injuries they've suffered.

"With what we've got in place right now, we still should be able to make a run," the Yankees' co-chairman told The AP Monday night in Tampa. "We're without (Chien-Ming) Wang, our 19-game winner. That's the biggest blow. We're without (Johnny) Damon for a little while, but he'll be back. (Hideki) Matsui wlll probably be back. It's been a bad year for injuries. The fans got to remember that. Don't get discouraged. Injuries do happen." Continue

Irate Hank Steinbrenner blames Chien-Ming Wang's injury on NL rules

Hank Steinbrenner has a message for Major League Baseball - make the National League "join the modern age." After the Yankees lost their ace, Chien-Ming Wang, for perhaps as much as three months, Steinbrenner said baseball should implement the designated hitter in the NL to keep pitchers from running the bases. Wang was hurt Sunday scoring from second on a single by Derek Jeter in an interleague game in Houston. Continue

Hank: 'There's still time'

For Hank Steinbrenner, the way the Yankees have played is more tolerable because of where they are in the season. Speaking to the Associated Press yesterday in Tampa, Steinbrenner didn't issue a warning, a distress signal or an ultimatum. Instead, the Baby Boss indicated that the standings right now are pointless.

"Well, we're not as far back as we were last year at this time," Steinbrenner said of his team, which began yesterday in last place in the AL East. "So the place you're in doesn't necessarily matter. There's still time." Steinbrenner was more demanding earlier in the week, when he told The Post, "The bottom line is that the team is not playing the way it is capable of playing. These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money." Continue