Drama, as usual, shadows the New York Yankees.

Can CC Sabathia curb his addiction to Cap’n Crunch? Will Brian Cashman’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs alleged serial stalker cause even more trouble? Why won’t Mariano Rivera reveal his secret? What if A.J. Burnett haunts the Yankees from Pittsburgh?

Yankees pitchers lined up for spring workouts Monday. The team’s ace couldn’t stay hidden in the pack for long, however. (AP Photo)

There must have been a time when spring training didn’t begin with some sort of spectacle or a Yankee forced to explain how his knuckles got muddied. Maybe drama took a hike back in the olden days when the team was known as the New York Highlanders, though surely a fair share of polite trash mumbling was aimed in the early 1900s at those dastardly Boston Americans.

This week, as players strolled into the club’s Tampa complex, there came the usual launching of firecrackers that left reporters scrambling.

There was Cashman vowing that the batty (allegedly) woman who is now in jail on charges of harassment and extortion won’t impact his role as general manager. And with that up rose a chorus of Yankee haters bellowing that he might as well confront the problem by writing a large check, because isn’t that how the team handles most everything?

Yankee haters, always keen to make a word play on Cash-man, must adore the ramblings from his alleged stalker, a British woman who goes by the name Louise Meanwell.

There was Rivera, the incomparable closer, cryptically saying he has indeed determined whether this will be his final season, and though the decision was difficult and irrevocable, he would not reveal his long-term plans until “maybe October.”

That shouldn’t create a distraction at all. Reporters won’t be crawling over each other in a frenzy to first tweet Rivera’s verdict. Nobody will dare badger his teammates, his agents, his family. No, known for courteous reticence and fine wardrobes, reporters will patiently wait for the 42-year-old Rivera to announce whether he’ll retire or return in 2013.

“How many times have I told you guys, this is my last year?” Rivera playfully joshed with the media Monday. “But this one is different. This is it. This one is my decision. When I want to let you guys know what it is, I will let you know.”

And the reporters straightened their ties and poodle skirts and vowed that, much like the olden days, they would allow Rivera to determine his future at his own pace. He’s in the final season of his contract, he’s already the all-time saves leader with 603, and he admits his children desperately wish he’d be a full-time dad. To his credit, Rivera doesn’t want this season to melt into a victory lap.

There was Sabathia, looking mighty svelte on the day pitchers and catchers reported, but isn’t that what we said about him this time last February? Like then, he dropped what he described as “10-15 pounds” over the winter, so the scale now hovers around 290, his reporting weight in 2011.

The Yankees must have installed a fun house mirror in the clubhouse during the second half of last season. Eyes told us that Sabathia’s gut had ballooned, but he and the team denied what everyone else saw; the Yankees swore his plunge from the end of July, when he was 15-5 with a 2.56 ERA, to the final two months, when he went 4-3 with a 4.06 ERA, wasn’t in any way related to his bloated tummy.

Now Cashman has confessed he was so concerned about his ace’s extra bulk, a sit-down over the winter was arranged. This was after Sabathia signed a five-year, $122 million contract extension with the Yankees, a contract that does not have weight-control clauses or bans on the amount of boxes Sabathia can consume of his favorite comfort food, the sugary Cap’n Crunch.

If Sabathia were a singer who cleaned up in the Grammy Awards, or if he were on the cover of Sports Illustrated wearing dental floss, his weight would be the lead subject of catty blogs and refined TV shows. As it was, the Yankees gently tip-toed around the conversation with Sabathia—Cashman called it tough and awkward and said he was cognizant of former players who, when confronted with body issues, had gone to extremes to keep the pounds off.

This included “sticking their fingers down their throat” to induce vomiting, said Cashman, illustrating why the Yankees don’t insert weight clauses into contracts. Models are not the only creatures who cringe at public pressure.

In his first spring meet-and-greet with reporters, Sabathia didn’t seem thrilled that his weight was again a hot topic. Nor did he have any definitive answers for why his performance stuttered in the playoffs. He went from imposing domination to a weak October, where against Detroit in three playoff outings, he posted a 6.23 ERA in 8 2/3 innings. Never comfortable with the six-man rotation the Yankees used, he also had patellar tendon problems in his knee, possibly brought on because of the excess mass he carried.

“I have no idea,” Sabathia said, when asked to explain his late-season struggles. “It’s just up to me to throw away other factors, like my weight, different things. I’ll be healthy and strong enough to go out and give this team everything I’ve got at the end of this year.”

Meanwhile, over at Pirate City in Bradenton, there was Burnett telling reporters that while he relished the good times he had with the Yankees, there could be a back story explaining why he didn’t exactly meet the expectations that went with his $82 million contract.

“Without getting too far into it, I would just say I let a few too many people tinker with me, maybe, you know?” said Burnett, the much-maligned pitcher who on Sunday was traded to the Pirates for John Candelaria’s wrist bands and a pair of minor leaguers. “When you let that happen, you get out there and you start doubting yourself.”

Before Yankee fans get the urge to boo Burnett for the zillionth time, it’s worth noting that, even if he knows where the bodies are buried, he’s not inclined to kick the dirt.

“I have no regrets. I got my ring there, I got to play with teammates that not a lot of people get to play with, Hall of Famers, and I played for a great manager in a great city,” Burnett said. “I take it and run. That chapter’s closed and it’s time to move on to the next one.”

The woman sitting in Rikers and accused of blackmailing Cashman could still turn spring training into a kind of crazy even the Yankees have never experienced. Already from her jail cell Louise Meanwell has claimed that Cashman told her he misled federal investigators who were looking into what the Yankees’ brass knew of steroid use by players.

Considering Meanwell currently has 13 orders of protection against her, and considering she has a history of causing havoc in the lives of men who, ahem, court her, her salacious grumbling ought to be judged accordingly. While Cashman has the support of Yankee management, a week ago he had no intention of addressing his personal turmoil, and now, barely a blip into spring training, he’s finding it impossible to ignore.

“I can just tell you that it’s not going to affect my job and I’m going to do my job to the best of my abilities as I always have,” Cashman told reporters Sunday, and he repeated this refrain in radio interviews Monday.

It’s always something, though alleged blackmailers are so very 1980s.

Source

Drama, as usual, shadows the New York Yankees.

Can CC Sabathia curb his addiction to Cap’n Crunch? Will Brian Cashman’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs alleged serial stalker cause even more trouble? Why won’t Mariano Rivera reveal his secret? What if A.J. Burnett haunts the Yankees from Pittsburgh?

Yankees pitchers lined up for spring workouts Monday. The team’s ace couldn’t stay hidden in the pack for long, however. (AP Photo)

There must have been a time when spring training didn’t begin with some sort of spectacle or a Yankee forced to explain how his knuckles got muddied. Maybe drama took a hike back in the olden days when the team was known as the New York Highlanders, though surely a fair share of polite trash mumbling was aimed in the early 1900s at those dastardly Boston Americans.

This week, as players strolled into the club’s Tampa complex, there came the usual launching of firecrackers that left reporters scrambling.

There was Cashman vowing that the batty (allegedly) woman who is now in jail on charges of harassment and extortion won’t impact his role as general manager. And with that up rose a chorus of Yankee haters bellowing that he might as well confront the problem by writing a large check, because isn’t that how the team handles most everything?

Yankee haters, always keen to make a word play on Cash-man, must adore the ramblings from his alleged stalker, a British woman who goes by the name Louise Meanwell.

There was Rivera, the incomparable closer, cryptically saying he has indeed determined whether this will be his final season, and though the decision was difficult and irrevocable, he would not reveal his long-term plans until “maybe October.”

That shouldn’t create a distraction at all. Reporters won’t be crawling over each other in a frenzy to first tweet Rivera’s verdict. Nobody will dare badger his teammates, his agents, his family. No, known for courteous reticence and fine wardrobes, reporters will patiently wait for the 42-year-old Rivera to announce whether he’ll retire or return in 2013.

“How many times have I told you guys, this is my last year?” Rivera playfully joshed with the media Monday. “But this one is different. This is it. This one is my decision. When I want to let you guys know what it is, I will let you know.”

And the reporters straightened their ties and poodle skirts and vowed that, much like the olden days, they would allow Rivera to determine his future at his own pace. He’s in the final season of his contract, he’s already the all-time saves leader with 603, and he admits his children desperately wish he’d be a full-time dad. To his credit, Rivera doesn’t want this season to melt into a victory lap.

There was Sabathia, looking mighty svelte on the day pitchers and catchers reported, but isn’t that what we said about him this time last February? Like then, he dropped what he described as “10-15 pounds” over the winter, so the scale now hovers around 290, his reporting weight in 2011.

The Yankees must have installed a fun house mirror in the clubhouse during the second half of last season. Eyes told us that Sabathia’s gut had ballooned, but he and the team denied what everyone else saw; the Yankees swore his plunge from the end of July, when he was 15-5 with a 2.56 ERA, to the final two months, when he went 4-3 with a 4.06 ERA, wasn’t in any way related to his bloated tummy.

Now Cashman has confessed he was so concerned about his ace’s extra bulk, a sit-down over the winter was arranged. This was after Sabathia signed a five-year, $122 million contract extension with the Yankees, a contract that does not have weight-control clauses or bans on the amount of boxes Sabathia can consume of his favorite comfort food, the sugary Cap’n Crunch.

If Sabathia were a singer who cleaned up in the Grammy Awards, or if he were on the cover of Sports Illustrated wearing dental floss, his weight would be the lead subject of catty blogs and refined TV shows. As it was, the Yankees gently tip-toed around the conversation with Sabathia—Cashman called it tough and awkward and said he was cognizant of former players who, when confronted with body issues, had gone to extremes to keep the pounds off.

This included “sticking their fingers down their throat” to induce vomiting, said Cashman, illustrating why the Yankees don’t insert weight clauses into contracts. Models are not the only creatures who cringe at public pressure.

In his first spring meet-and-greet with reporters, Sabathia didn’t seem thrilled that his weight was again a hot topic. Nor did he have any definitive answers for why his performance stuttered in the playoffs. He went from imposing domination to a weak October, where against Detroit in three playoff outings, he posted a 6.23 ERA in 8 2/3 innings. Never comfortable with the six-man rotation the Yankees used, he also had patellar tendon problems in his knee, possibly brought on because of the excess mass he carried.

“I have no idea,” Sabathia said, when asked to explain his late-season struggles. “It’s just up to me to throw away other factors, like my weight, different things. I’ll be healthy and strong enough to go out and give this team everything I’ve got at the end of this year.”

Meanwhile, over at Pirate City in Bradenton, there was Burnett telling reporters that while he relished the good times he had with the Yankees, there could be a back story explaining why he didn’t exactly meet the expectations that went with his $82 million contract.

“Without getting too far into it, I would just say I let a few too many people tinker with me, maybe, you know?” said Burnett, the much-maligned pitcher who on Sunday was traded to the Pirates for John Candelaria’s wrist bands and a pair of minor leaguers. “When you let that happen, you get out there and you start doubting yourself.”

Before Yankee fans get the urge to boo Burnett for the zillionth time, it’s worth noting that, even if he knows where the bodies are buried, he’s not inclined to kick the dirt.

“I have no regrets. I got my ring there, I got to play with teammates that not a lot of people get to play with, Hall of Famers, and I played for a great manager in a great city,” Burnett said. “I take it and run. That chapter’s closed and it’s time to move on to the next one.”

The woman sitting in Rikers and accused of blackmailing Cashman could still turn spring training into a kind of crazy even the Yankees have never experienced. Already from her jail cell Louise Meanwell has claimed that Cashman told her he misled federal investigators who were looking into what the Yankees’ brass knew of steroid use by players.

Considering Meanwell currently has 13 orders of protection against her, and considering she has a history of causing havoc in the lives of men who, ahem, court her, her salacious grumbling ought to be judged accordingly. While Cashman has the support of Yankee management, a week ago he had no intention of addressing his personal turmoil, and now, barely a blip into spring training, he’s finding it impossible to ignore.

“I can just tell you that it’s not going to affect my job and I’m going to do my job to the best of my abilities as I always have,” Cashman told reporters Sunday, and he repeated this refrain in radio interviews Monday.

It’s always something, though alleged blackmailers are so very 1980s.

Source

CLEARWATER, Fla.—When you think about the Philadelphia Phillies’ rotation, you think about Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. The trio is considered the strongest 1-2-3 rotation punch in the game.

But that still leaves two games out of every five to be pitched by someone else. This spring, the Phillies have more candidates than ever for those final spots.

Vance Worley posted a 3.01 ERA as a rookie in 2011. (AP Photo)

Vance Worley would seem to have one of the two jobs wrapped up after going 11-3 with a 3.02 ERA in 21 starts as a rookie. But as he pointed out Monday morning after throwing his first bullpen of spring training, “Nothing is set in stone.”

If Worley is a lock, two right-handers making a lot more money than him—Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick—will be left fighting for the final spot. The Phillies also have brought Joel Pineiro and Dave Bush to camp on minor-league deals and both have had considerable success starting in the majors. Lefty Dontrelle Willis was signed as a reliever but he also could be called to duty as a starter, if needed.

“That’s a lot of depth,” Worley says.

Worley, 24, says he tried too hard to impress last year when he was in his first big-league camp. He ended up overthrowing and being sent to minor-league camp midway through camp. He was called up in April for the first time and shut out the New York Mets for six innings. From then on, his rookie season was a success.

Whether his strong showing in 2011 was enough to earn him a spot in the 2012 rotation remains to be seen. When Worley looks around the clubhouse, he notices all the veterans the club brought in who want his job.

“Oh, yes, I’m looking over my shoulder,” he said. “In this game, you always are looking over your shoulder.”

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CLEARWATER, Fla. — Before Jim Thome signed with the Phillies last November, he had not fielded a ground ball since 2007. Not in pre-game work, not in spring training, not in off-season drills.

“A long time,” he says.

Jim Thome has logged just two major league games in the field since 2006. (AP Photo)

Thome, after all, will make the Hall of Fame for his 604 home runs, not his defense. But the 41-year-old has brought his first baseman’s mitt to spring training. With first baseman Ryan Howard (Achilles) sidelined until May, the Phillies are hoping that Thome can play a little defense as well as handle the pinch-hitting duties for which he was signed to a one-year, $1.25 million deal. He finished 2011 with 15 homers in 277 at-bats while hitting .256 with a .361 OBP.

Thome, who has battled lower-back problems for years, embraced yoga and Pilates this off-season to help prepare for the change. He also incorporated grounders and throwing into his routine. He reported to camp last week to put in more time before Phillies position players have their first official workout on Friday.

Thome is the first to admit that taking grounders in an indoor facility hardly is like playing defense in a big-league game, even a spring-training game. Though he is feeling fine these days and believes he can handle spot duty at first, don’t ask him how often.

“To say I could play, three, four, five times a week is unfair,” Thome said Monday morning. “I don’t know.”

You will know his efforts are going well if, by the middle of spring training, he is able to play first base on back-to-back days. He also knows his back issues could flare at any time and he might have to tell manager Charlie Manuel that this defense thing isn’t working.

“I’ll deal with that if it comes,” he said. “But I try not to think of that.”

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