Spring Training notebook, Day 9: Pineda feels good, looks 'jumpy'

TAMPA, Fla. -- Michael Pineda threw his first live batting practice session Sunday morning, throwing to live hitters for the first time this year. And though it wasn't great, it also wasn't terrible.

“The ball was coming out really good,” catcher John Ryan Murphy said. “Sometimes he tends to cut them a little bit, but that’s usually his first few warm-ups. After he starts getting through a little better, the fastball comes out really good.

"His command was really good today. I don't think he’s where he thinks he should be yet, but overall he was pretty good. … (His command) was better in the bullpen. He was just a little jumpy out there on the mound I think because he was excited and anxious about his first day out there.”

Murphy said that Pineda was throwing much better in the bullpen during warmups, but I can tell you from experience that throwing to just your catcher in the bullpen is much different than having an actual hitter in the box.

"Today was just my first time," Pineda said. "I need to be ready for the games, not batting practice."

** Yankees manager Joe Girardi announce the starting rotation for the first four spring training games: Vidal Nuno will take the mound against FSU on Tuesday; Ivan Nova gets the ball against the Pirates on Wednesday; David Phelps will take the mound Thursday, also against the Pirates; and Adam Warren will start against the Tigers on Friday.

Nuno said that he expects to throw two innings, and I would bet that you can expect the same from the other four starters.

** After coming to terms with right-hander Andrew Bailey Saturday night, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that he doesn't expect Bailey to be in the big leagues until late in the season, possibly August or September.

Before he said that, the hope was that he would be ready to pitch by the middle of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery late last season, but considering that he hasn't even began throwing yet, there is still a long way to go in his rehab process.

** While everyone was focusing on Brett Gardner and the four-year contract extension that he signed with the Yankees, it was revealed that Derek Jeter will make his spring debut on Thursday against the Pirates. That game can be seen on YES.

** Speaking of Gardner's extension, Cashman said that he hasn't had any talks with David Robertson's agent about an extension. Robertson is eligible to become a free-agent after the season.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @GavinEwbank.

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Spring Training notebook, Day 7: Masahiro Tanaka continues to impress

TAMPA, Fla. -- Masahiro Tanaka certainly drew a lot of hype over the winter leading up to his signing with the Yankees, and it will continue to be that way until he pitches in his first major league game this season -- his first start will likely be against the Houston Astros during the opening series of the year.

And even though he's only thrown a handful of time so far this spring, the compliments just continue to roll in.

Tanaka threw his first live batting practice session today, and yep, you guessed it, people had nothing but great things to say about the $155 million 25-year-old.

"As good as advertised," said Brian McCann, who caught Tanaka for the first time. "He’s got a great split. It really falls off the table. His motion’s completely the same as his fastball, and that’s the key to getting swings and misses."

Austin Romine was one of the hitters to face Tanaka today, and he was almost left speechless when he first saw his highly talked about splitter.

"I think he threw a split and I had to turn around and ask what the pitch was," Romine said. "I’ve never seen a ball move like that before. I haven’t had the chance to catch him yet, but from a hitting standpoint, like I said, I’m glad he’s on our team."

"It really falls off the table," McCann said of the pitch. "His motion’s completely the same as his fastball, and that’s the key to getting swings and misses."

Today was the first time that Tanaka had faced live hitters since the final game of last year’s Japanese playoffs. He guessed that he was throwing around 70 percent, and came away happy with the results.

“I felt really good out there,” he said. “It was the first time I had batters in the batter’s box, but I felt really good out there today.”

Tanaka has not yet been told when he will start pitching in spring games, which begin next week, but he says that he'll be ready for whenever his first action might be.

“I don’t think I need that many live BP sessions,” he said. “I’d like to get into games more and try to build my arm strength through games.”

** CC Sabathia said that he went Alabama during the offseason to Dr. James Andrews’ facility in Alabama to have his mechanics analyzed and stored in a database. It was something that he had done 10 years ago with the Cleveland Indians, and wanted to compare between then and now.

"It’s the same as it was 10 years ago," Sabathia said. "… Pretty much, except the rotation in my hips. You get old. You get bad hips when you get old, right?”

After working extremely hard throughout the winter, Sabathia came into camp weighing 40 pounds lighter than he has in the past.

"I threw all offseason, so I’m ahead of where I was last spring, maybe even the spring before, just from all the work I’ve been doing," Sabathia said. "I’m encouraged by the way I feel. My arm angle seems to be good, getting the ball out, my arm just needs to catch up with the rest of my body."

He threw 25 pitches of live batting practice Friday and that he couldn't find the strike zone very often, but feels much better on the pound after dropping weight and having a full year to recover from his elbow surgery last offseason.

“I felt great,” Sabathia said. “My legs felt great, didn’t get tired, so I’m actually excited. I know it wasn’t the prettiest, but it felt good.”

** Yankees manager Joe Girardi will announce on Sunday who he plans to start in the early slate of spring training games that start with Florida State University on Tuesday, followed by games with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday and Thursday.

The early signs so far, based on who has been throwing lately, point to David Phelps and Vidal Nuno each getting a start next week.

** Girardi has said that Francisco Cervelli, John Ryan Murphy and Romine will battle it out for the backup catchers job behind McCann this season, but he may have also hinted that Cervelli currently has the upper-hand in the competition.

"You’ve got three guys vying for that spot that played for us last year, so obviously there’s some competition there," Girardi said. "You’re looking for the best player, but [Cervelli] has got more experience than all of them and he played very well in the short time that we had him last year."

If you remember, Cervelli won the job last spring, but played in just 17 games in 2013 because of a broken hand that he suffered early in the season, and then a 50-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.

Also, the fact that Romine and Murphy have options could come into play. “That’s something that’s always brought up,” Girardi said. “Obviously, we’re in this thing to win it so we got to do what we feel is best.”

** Alfonso Soriano missed his second straight day of workouts for what is being called the flu. Soriano was seen in the weight room earlier in the day, working out a little bit.

"He's a little better today than he was yesterday," Girardi said. "We hope to have him out there tomorrow."

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 Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @GavinEwbank.

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Spring Training notebook: Day 6

TAMPA, Fla. -- Today was the first day of full-squad workouts for the Yankees, so spring training is completely underway. The first exhibition game is next Thursday against Florida State University at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Here's today's notebook.

No Derek Eater: Thursday was the first official practice of Derek Jeter's final season, and the captain said afterwards that he's coming into camp weighing less than he usually does.

Jeter enters the spring five to six pounds lighter than he has been in previous years in an effort to reduce the strain on his surgically-repaired left ankle, the one that only put him into the lineup 17 times last season.

"I did a lot of conditioning, a lot of running," Jeter said after Thursday's workout. “I wanted to be a little lighter, take some pressure off my legs and move around a little bit better.”

Having weighed 199 in previous years, Jeter says he came to camp this time around at 193 pounds after an offseason of healthier eating and more intensive workouts.

Joe Girardi was even able to tell the difference in Jeter's weigh right away.

“I would say last year at times, just going through what you might consider everyday activity and jogs, running the bases, you would notice it," Girardi said. “His running looked normal to me, what I was used to seeing from him in the past. Today it looked like he never got hurt."

Girardi said there are no real restrictions on what Jeter can do this spring.

“I don't know if he'll play the first game or two, but beyond that we don't really have a lot of restrictions on him right now,” Girardi said. “I think we want to make sure he gets enough days of baserunning in to make sure he’s ready to go.”

Pineda throws: Michael Pineda threw an early pull Thursday, and he came out just fine. Girardi has been saying that he doesn't want player trying to battle for spots on the roster just yet, but would rather that they take things slow for the first couple of weeks.

Pineda has already thrown a couple of times this spring, and has been getting some high praise for the way he is throwing.

"How the ball is coming out of his hand is the biggest thing for me." Girardi said Thursday. "Does he look like he's putting too much effort to let the ball go or is it coming out easy? That's what I've seen. It's coming out easy, I don't see him overthrowing and the stuff being sharp, hitting his spots with some sink and some run to it.

"His slider looks good, his changeup looks good. His mechanics to me look much more polished than they were a couple of years ago. He's had a lot of time to work on it and to think about it. He's much more consistent in his delivery."

Pineda has yet to throw live batting practice, but Girardi said that has nothing to do with health concerns.

"It’s just some guys are a little bit ahead of others for various reasons," he said. "Maybe they started a little bit earlier here with Larry is usually the main reason. We might have a little caution, (but) he’s healthy. Pineda looks good to me."

Living batting practice: Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno, two of the four pitchers battling for the fifth spot in the rotation this season, threw live batting practice today. Both were said to have thrown well; nothing overwhelming, but still well. Good things to hear early.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Spring Training notebook: Day 5

TAMPA, Fla. -- Everyone expect the batboy gathered in a room in Tampa today to listen to Derek Jeter talk about his retirement after this season. But that wasn't all that happened at Yankees camp. Ichiro Suzuki talked about fighting for a roster spot, position players officially reported, and more.

Jeter: "The time is right:" Ever since announcing last week his plans to retire after the season, reporters had been dying to ask the question, "why now, Jeter?" We finally got what we were looking for.

"I felt as though this was the right time," Jeter said. "I've been doing this for a long time; this will be parts of 20 seasons that I've been playing here in New York and parts of 23 if you count the Minor Leagues. I just think I've done it long enough and I look forward to doing some other things in my life. But I can't reiterate enough that we still have a season to play.”

Jeter said that his decision to retire had nothing to do with how he feels physically. He said that his ankle and the rest of his body are feeling great.

He added that player baseball has now become a job for him, especially after last season in which he played just 17 games because of various injuries. But Jeter said that he worked very hard this offseason, and expects to be the everyday shortstop this season.

“It’s all about the time. You can't do this forever," Jeter said. "I’d like to, but you can't do it forever. I feel as though the time is right after this year. There’s other things I want to do."

Ichiro making the best of his situation: After bringing in outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran this offseason, the Yankees gave themselves a backload of outfielders on the roster. Since then, Vernon Wells has been released, and Ichiro could be the next one to be moved.

Ellsbury, Beltran and Brett Gardner are going to be the three main outfielders, with Alfonso Soriano serving as the DH and fourth outfielder. Ichiro, however, doesn't really have any roles that we know of.

We can assume that he'll be the fifth outfielder, and come into games late as a pinch-runners, because he can still offer some speed in the bases.

“This is a place where the greatest players gather and play, so I'm really excited to play with those guys,” Ichiro said. “Obviously with the additions, I’m going to have to find a place for myself, but I worked hard this offseason. I worked on a lot of things, and throughout spring training, hopefully those things will come together and we'll see where it goes from there.”

Any thoughts about being released or traded?

“When you're here with the Yankees, you tend to think about those things,” he said. “You just never know with the great players coming here. I thought about a lot of things, which a lot of players do.”

Ichiro said that he has done everything that he can handle by coming to camp in shape, an is going to see how the rest plays out.

He also had something to say about Jeter retiring.

"I was really shocked, as I think were a lot of people." he said. "I didn't want to believe it. But I was actually shocked that he was doing Facebook. That's something that I was really shocked about."

Nunie shows up, plays the field: Eduardo Nunez arrived to camp today and spent a lot of time taking groundballs at both third base and shortstop, two positions that he is going to be competing for this spring. It would be great if Nunez finally plays to his full potential and wins a job at third base, as or just another reserve infielder.

Banuelos throws live BP: Manny Banuelos threw his first live batting practice session today. He had been throwing simulated games late last season, but today was his first in camp.

“Good, good, feels pretty good,” he said. “All my pitches worked. Velocity is good. I didn't throw, like, 100 percent because it was the first time, but it feels pretty good. … I’m happy man. It feels strong, feels good.”

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Spring Training notebook: Day 4

TAMPA, Fla. -- Robinson Cano is still making headlines in the New York newspapers, yet he signed with the Seattle Mariners a couple months ago. His manager fired back at comments about him in Sunday's NY Daily News; Brendan Ryan thinks Yankees fans will hate him; and Masahiro Tanaka threw another bullpen.

All of that, plus some more, in today's edition of the Yankees Spring Training notebook.

Pitching to his value: Tanaka threw another bullpen Tuesday morning, and once again, he was getting some praise for the way he threw.

“Really impressive. Really impressive,” catcher John Ryan Murphy said. “His fastball command was really good today. Cervy told me it was the other day (as well). Masahiro told me it was probably the best of the three bullpens he had thrown.

"The fastball command for me was really good inside and outside. I think his ability to forget a poor pitch and repeat a better pitch the next pitch was really impressive also. If he threw one poor pitch, he was back (to throwing a good pitch) the next one. I think he threw four or five pitches up in the zone, that was it. He commanded all of his pitches. He’s got a short memory on the bad pitches, and I think overall it was very, very good.”

As for the legendary split-finger that we've all been hearing about, Murphy had some good words about that, too.

“He only threw maybe five or six, but he threw a few that were really good and sharp and hard and downward breaking,” Murphy said. “And then he threw a couple for strikes. He did it all today, honestly.”

As for his arm strength...

“What surprised me was the effort level looked minimal and it was coming out really good,” Murphy said. “Velocity-wise, I have no idea.”

He thinks you guys hate him: Brendan Ryan is going to spend a decent amount of time subbing for Derek Jeter at shortstop this season, and he believes that Yankees fans won't be too fond of that.

But that doesn't matter, because Ryan plans to "embrace the boos," he said Tuesday.

"I'm going to get booed regardless," Ryan said. "I've been booed before. Who cares? If I'm getting high-fives from my teammates, I'm doing something right and that's what matters. Hopefully the fans will come around after that."

Jeter, who announced his retirement on Facebook last week. is coming off a season in which he played just 17 games because of various injuries, including multiple re-injurings of his surgically repaired right ankle.

The Yankees acquired Ryan from the Mariners in September, and though he can't hit, he is good enough in the field that the Yanks re-signed him on a two-year contract this offseason.

Now leading off, in center field: Jacoby Ellsbury showed up to Yankees camp today. He said that he is completely healed from the foot injury that caused him problems late last season and into the playoffs.

“It feels good,” Ellsbury said. “I went into the offseason workouts and once I stepped into that weight room it was 100 percent ready to go. Strength and everything is where it needs to be. … I’ll talk to those guys about it, but as far as me being ready to go, I’m ready to go.”

And to the surprise of nobody, Ellsbury said that Joe Girardi has told him that he'll be leading off and playing center field for the Yankees this season.

Back off my boy: Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon had something to say about Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long's comments on the Daily News Sunday that Cano didn't always hustle down the line, bothering Long during Cano's nine-year tenure in the Bronx.

"Last time I checked, I didn't know that Kevin Long was the spokesman for the New York Yankees," McClendon told ESPN.com. "That was a little surprising. I was a little pissed off, and I'm sure Joe [Girardi] feels the same way. He's concerned with his team and what they're doing, not what the Seattle Mariners players are doing.

"I'm a little surprised that Kevin Long is the spokesman for the New York Yankees. I wonder if he had any problems with Robbie when he wrote that book ["Cage Rat"] proclaiming himself as the guru of hitting."

Long responded to that on Tuesday, saying he wasn't trying to go after Cano in any way, and that "if you look at all the good things that were written about Robinson you would understand there was no malicious meaning behind any of it."

Green with envy, not money: When Yu Darvish came over from Japan to sign with the Texas Rangers two years ago, the posting system that was in place at the time was only able to get him a six-year, $56 million guaranteed deal.

What does he think about the new posting system now that the Yankees were able to give Tanaka a seven-year, $155 million contract this winter?

"I don't know the details of the posting system, but I think the Yankees gave him a little bit too much," said Darvish, chuckling along with his interpreter.

After everyone on Twitter made a big deal over his comments, Darvish tweeted that he was only joking, and the Rangers' PR staff sent out a statement saying, too, that he was only joking. Hmmm...

Parting shot: This comes from Girardi, who was think about the big picture when talking about his club today.....

“I'm encouraged what I've seen in camp so far. It’s a camp that, our staff does a very good job of making sure they see everyone in all the different situations, and that’s why you see BPs spread out throughout the whole day so Larry has a close eye on everyone. But I’m encouraged by what we've got so far.

"Tex hitting the third day in a row, he feels good, and the position players all get here tomorrow, and we’ll get on the field whatever day that is, Thursday.”

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Spring Training notebook: Day 3

TAMPA, Fla. -- Another day, another workout, another notebook full of news. Pitchers, catchers and a handful of position players were back on the field in Tampa Monday morning for the third day of workouts this spring. Brian Roberts made some noise, Joe Girardi said that Kelly Johnson will be the super-utility player, and people still care about Robinson Cano.

Roberts: "I'm not going to go in and be Robbie:" Roberts said he got a call from the Yankees during the offseason, before Robinson Cano signed his 10-year mega-deal with the Seattle Mariners.

Roberts didn't take any meaning to it because he thought the Yankees would end up re-signing Cano.

Well, they didn't, and now Roberts, at 36-years-old, is being tasked with replacing Cano. Not exactly, though.

"Robbie is such a special player, I'm not going to go in and be Robbie," Roberts said Monday. "Nobody will be. Our goal is to put nine guys on the field to win a game. My goal is to try and help us do that. I'm sure there are going to be people who are going to want to look out there and say, 'He is not Robbie.' I'm not going to be Robbie and I'm not going to try to be. I'm going to be Brian Roberts and hopefully that is good enough."

Girardi declared after the day's workout that Roberts is going to be the everyday second baseman during the season, with Kelly Johnson as his backup. Johnson, by the way, is expected to spend most of his time at third base, while also being on hand as Mark Teixeira's backup at first base.

And though Girardi didn't mention this, Johnson is also going to be my backup when I can't cover games during the season.

Roberts hasn't played more than 77 games in the last four years, all with the Baltimore Orioles, because of various injuries, and the Yankees need him to be out there everyday. Good luck with that.

"It's been a while," Roberts said.

In 2013, Roberts started off well in the Orioles' first two games of the season, going 4-for-8 at the plate, before popping his hamstring tendon in game No. 3, trying to steal a base.

"That was really frustrating for me," Roberts said. "I thought I was in a place where I thought I was going to bounce back and be myself again."

Pineda gets some high praise: Michael Pineda threw a 35-pitch bullpen session Monday morning, and it left many, including Girardi and Pineda, feeling confident in what he can be this year.

“I’m feeling good. Really good," Pineda said. "I’m throwing the same. Mechanics the same. Everything is the same. All pitches are the same. I’m the same Michael Pineda.”

Though he wasn't throwing in front of a radar gun, Girardi said the Pineda was hitting 93 and 94 mph last year in the minors. So we can guess he's in the same range, and possibly better.

"I thought the ball was coming out easier," Girardi said. "I know he’s had time to clean up a couple things too, mechanically, in this two-year span. He just looked like it came out free and easy to me; didn’t look like he put a ton of effort into it, or that he was overthrowing it."

The Yankees are really hoping that Pineda can stay healthy enough through the spring to win the fifth starter job, because this kid has yet to throw a pitch in the big leagues for the Bombers since coming over two years ago.

If he can return to form as anything close to what he was when with the Mariners in 2011, Pineda could be one of the best fifth starters in the game.

Beltran arrives at spring training: Carlos Beltran checked in at the Yankees spring training complex, and after working out, he told reports that he's excited for the upcoming season, his first in pinstripes.

“I feel great, man," Beltran said. "Since we were able to agree on signing the three-year deal, I’m looking forward to the team. I think we have a real good team. We have a lineup that -- hopefully everyone is healthy, that’s the main thing. I believe the lineup we have is a pretty good lineup. On paper, it looks pretty good. We have to get to know each other and find a way to play the game the right way.”

Beltran also said that he is really looking forward to being a part of Derek Jeter's final season.

"Being able to play with a guy that’s a Hall of Famer – a first-ballot Hall of Famer – is a great feeling," he said. "I’m just looking forward to playing with him and hopefully helping this team win a championship. I know he has a lot of championships, but I don’t have [any]. Hopefully I can win one.”

The Yankees asked Cano to hustle more: Not running hard to first base was one of the few negative things associated with Cano when he left the Yankees for Seattle this winter.

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long was one of the people speaking out against the second baseman's lack of effort.

"If somebody told me I was a dog, I'd have to fix that. When you choose not to, you leave yourself open to taking heat, and that's your fault. For whatever reason, Robbie chose not to," Long told the New York Daily News on Sunday.

Up next:  Sam old, same old Tuesday morning. Workouts for the spring will continue. And looking a couple days down the road, position players officially report Wednesday, with the first full-squad workout on thursday.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Warming up: Mark Teixeira says "we're back to being the Yankees"

The Yankees may have lost Robinson Cano this winter, but they spent almost $500 million to get Masahiro Tanaka, Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran.

And Mark Teixeira approves of those moves.

"We're back to being the Yankees again." said Teixeira, who missed almost the entire 2013 season because of a wrist injury. "Last year, we weren't the Yankees. We had so many injuries and we had so many guys that should have been in there to be lots of anchors [in the lineup.] That's back."

The Yankees are hoping that Teixeira can get back to full health by the end of the spring, because right now Kelly Johnson, who is expected to spend a lot of time at third base this year, is slated to be his backup, according to manager Joe Girardi.

He said Sunday that he expects to play in at least 150 game this season, and be the 30 homerun, 100 RBI hitter that the Yankees signed in 2009.

"I know when I'm out there and healthy, my team is a better team and that is no different this year," said Teixeira, who turns 34 in April.

"We had a great offseason," Teixeira said. "It was fun to watch. I was texting Cash every two weeks, telling him congrats on another great signing, great offseason. I basically told him, 'You did your job. Now, it is time for us to do ours.' No excuses this year, we have a team that can compete for a world championship."

The Yankees haven't really been the Yankees since winning the World Series in 2009. They had spent the last couple of offseasons trying to save money in hopes of getting under the luxury-tax mark by 2014, but after missing the playoffs last season, they couldn't risk missing October for a second straight year, forcing them to go back to their old ways, signing every big star they could.

Yankees links worth sharing:

* Ten years ago yesterday, Bud Selig approved a trade that sent Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees. But it wasn't that simple. In a story very similar to "The Deal," an ESPN 30for30 that aired on ESPN Sunday night, Joel Sherman dove deeper into everything surrounding the trade, including how the Rangers almosted ended up with a double play duo of Robinson Cano and Jose Reyes, and how A-Rod's opt-out clause of seven-years was actually to help get him in a New York Mets uniform.

* Major League Baseball officially announced Thursday that the Yankees would play a two-game exhibition series against the Miami Marlins in Panama on March 15th and the 16th. But as of right now, the Yankees have no idea of who might be making the trip to mostly honor Mariano Rivera, a Panama native.

* Derek Jeter is retiring, leaving the Yankees without their face of the franchise. Five years from now, how might the new face be? McCann or Ellsbury? It'll most likely be Tanaka, as Wallace Matthews writes.

* A pair of players that hope to make the Yankees' Opening Day roster, Dean Anna and Vidal Nuno were both signed with Major League deals with the Yankees on Sunday, according to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, and Yanks Go Yard has the story.

* The Yankees already have a four person cast of pitchers battling for the fifth spot in the rotation this spring, with Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Adam Warren and Nuno in the mix, but Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe thinks that the Yankees could "intensify" their efforts in him with his price quickly dropping.

Today's warm-up song: "House of gold" by Twenty-one Pilots. I really like this one from an underrated band.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Spring Training notebook: Day 2

TAMPA, Fla. -- Sunday was the second day of official workouts this spring. Mark Teixeira took most of the headlines while speaking to the media, while also getting in some swings on the field. But that wasn't the only thing worth talking about.

Teixeira sets high expectations for himself: First baseman Mark Teixeira, who is coming off of wrist surgery last season, arrived at Yankees camp Sunday, and spoke to the media about his expectations, who is wrist is doing, and what his recovery plans are in spring training.

"I feel good. I'm excited about being here." he said. "No setbacks the entire offseason, the summer into the offseason, which is good. My surgeon was very happy and Steve is happy. So I'm happy."

Teixeira said that his injured wrist didn't really have much effect on his offseason workouts.

I actually got to lift more, which was good. I feel like I've put on a couple of pounds of muscle, which is nice for me. My offseason started July 1st, and with the rehab and extra time, concentrating on my body and not worrying about resting, I got plenty of rest which was good. The first month or two of the offseason is just resting from a long season. I didn't have that this year so I was able to work a little bit more."

He's coming into the season with some high expectations placed on himself, saying that he's hoping to play at least 150 games, and be the 30 homerun, 100 RBI game in the middle of the Yankees' lineup like like they expected him to be when he was signed in 2009.

"I absolutely plan on playing 150-plus games this year. That's my goal. Every now and then I'll have a day off, of course. That's just natural. You get beat up a little bit during the season, but I expect to have a healthy, productive season." he said.

He later added, "There's not one guy that has to carry this team, but absolutely I expect to hit in the middle of the order, hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs. That's going to take pressure off everybody and help us win games."

As for his plans this spring, Teixeira said that he is "going to get my 50-plus at-bats in Spring Training. I'm going to get as many swings as I need. It'll be a little slow the first couple of weeks just to make sure I'm easing into things."

He said that he started swinging a bat in January, taking about 20 swings from each side, and building up 5-to-10 each week. Right now, he is 45-to-50 from each side of the plate, and will continue to add on as the spring progresses.

Relievers take their turn: After the startings threw bullpens on Saturday, the Yankees had two groups of relievers throw bullpens on Sunday, including should-be closer David Robertson, who was joined by Shawn Kelley, Matt Dailey and Matt Thornton.

Cesar Cabral, Brian Gordon, Chris Leroux and Mark Montgomery were part of the second group to throw.

Putting on a show: Catching prospect Peter O'Brien was mashing balls during batting practice today. Even though the Yankees have enough catchers to last them the next decade, the 6-foot-3, 215 pound O'Brien will be someone to watch down the road, or possibly in the trade market.

Manny throws a bullpen: Manny Banuelos threw his first bullpen session of the spring, coming off of Tommy John Surgery. Yankees manager Joe Girardi also confirmed recent reports that Banuelos could make the team out of spring training as the second lefty in the bullpen.

However, it's more likely that he'll start the year in Triple-A -- as I wrote in Sunday's Warming up, the Yankees would be very wise to start Banuelos in the minors as a starter, rather than putting him in the big leagues to start the year.

Up next: Pitchers and catchers are back at it again on Monday, expecting to be on the field around 10:30am EST at spring training complex.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Spring Training notebook: Day 1

TAMPA, Fla. -- Pitchers and catchers officially reported to camp yesterday, and on Saturday, the Yankees held their first workout of the spring. Pitchers threw bullpens, and then ran some laps around the field, to which not everyone was satisfied with.

Tanaka throws 32 pitches: Throwing alongside Ivan Nova and Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka threw a 32 pitchers bullpen session in front of more than a hundred media members, though manager Joe Girardi said none of the pitches were thrown at full-speed.

"I didn't think he was trying to do too much," Girardi said. "I thought he had a good plan when he went out there today of what he was trying to do, and I thought he executed it."

After getting off of the mound, Tanaka had to run four laps around the field -- the same thing as running a mile -- and said afterwards that it was more than he expected to do.

“I actually didn't know that I was going to run this much," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "I’m a little bit of a slow runner, but that part I really can’t help.”

"Everybody's talking about the guy, so when he threw a bullpen, even I stopped to watch him," Nova said. "He's really good, I mean in the bullpen, anyway. I saw some videos of him pitching, too. I'm excited that he's here. It was a huge upgrade for this team."

CC Sabathia also threw a bullpen on the four-person mound at the same time as Tanaka.

Banuelos: 'This is my year': Manny Banuelos has not pitched off the mound in live games in almost two years. He only threw 24 innings in 2012 before hurting his elbow and forcing him to undergo Tommy John Surgery.

But now Banuelos, who will turn 23 on March 13th, is healthy and ready to be a part of the Yankees' big league club this year.

"This is my year," Banuelos said Saturday morning.

Contrary to what you might think, Banuelos is not just in camp to gain some experience pitching to Major League hitters. He has a chance to be in the Yankees' bullpen on Opening Day as the second lefty.

"Banuelos has got that big arm," a front office source recently told ESPNNewYork.com. "If it's still there and the lightning still strikes then you're going to see people say, 'F--- it, bring him with us [on Opening Day].'"

Before the surgery, he was throwing the ball in the mid-to-high 90's, hitting 96/97 mph, and is now throwing around 93/94 mph. Pitchers in the past the have opted for Tommy John tend to come back throwing just as hard, if not harder, as they were before the surgery.

The next step for Banuelos will be to throw a bullpen on Sunday, then face live hitters on Wednesday.

Nova not giving himself a spot: We were been operating the entire offseason think that Nova would be the 4th starter in the Yankees' rotation this season. But wasn't was thinking like the rest of us.

Even though he finished off the great for the Yankees in 2013, Nova doesn't think that he is guaranteed a spot on in the starting rotation, and that he must fight for one during spring training.

“I’m still in a competition,” Nova said. “Nothing is sure. I know that CC can be sure, Kuroda, Tanaka. I'm one of the young guys. I've got to be doing the best out there in the competition.”

His manager, Joe Girardi, however, was a little bit more optimistic.

“We expect Nova to be in our rotation, but I love that attitude,” Girardi said. “You have to perform. The bottom line is it’s a performance-based business, so you have to go out and perform, but I love that attitude.”

Don't call him J.R.: Backup catcher candidate J.R. Murphy let it known on Saturday that he would rather have fans and media know him as John Ryan Murphy, his full name name.

Murphy said he was called John Ryan as a kid to distinguish him from his father, who is known as John Mark. He added that he doesn't really mind being called "J.R." or "Murph," but won't answer to just John.

"That's the only thing that annoys me," he said.

Up next: The team will be back at it on Sunday for Day 2 of workouts, with pitchers and catchers slated to hit the field around 10am EST.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Spring Training notebook: Pitchers and catchers report

TAMPA, Fla. -- Pitchers and catchers have finally reported to Tampa, thankfully, giving us some on-field news to talk about for the first time last September. Granite there wasn't a whole lot to talk about, baseball activities are still baseball activities, and that is worth sharing with you.

For those of you interested: Masahiro Tanaka was given Mariano Rivera's locker, while Alex Rodriguez's locker remains vacant during his season-long suspension.

Rodriguez was suspended, originally, for 211-games by Major League Baseball for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal. After a long arbitration process, the suspension was reduced to just 162-games, equaling the entire 2014 season.

Tanaka, who the Yankees signed to a seven-year, $155 million contract back in January, was given The Great Mariano's locker after he retire after last season.

“One of the staff members actually told me," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "I was like, ‘I’m not really sure if I should be here.’”

As for another retired player, reliever Shawn Kelley took over the locker of pitcher Andy Pettitte, who also retired with Rivera this past winter.

CC lost a lot of weight this winter: For the second year in a row, CC Sabathia comes into spring training much lighter than the previous year.

Sabathia weighed in at 275 pounds on Friday morning, which by his estimate is the lowest he has been since his days with the Indians. Sabathia was under 300 pounds by the beginning of Spring Training a year ago.

“I really lost a lot of weight last year," Sabathia said. "I went from about 315 to like 280. I just did no carbs and then really worked out. This offseason I watched my diet and worked really hard and I lost five pounds.”

A lot of people feel that his decision to drop weight last winter was one of the causes of his velocity drop in 2013, when in reality, it was likely the fact that he was coming off of an elbow injury that offseason.

No regrets from Jeter: After announcing his plans to retire after the 2014 season, Derek Jeter  said there is no change in his plans to retire.

For now, he's not going to be saying anything else about his decision until his press conference next Wednesday, February 19th, at 11:30am EST in Tampa.

Uniform numbers released: The Yankees also released the uniform numbers for all 66 players in camp this spring.

The most notable are the newly signed players from this winter that weren't cool enough to get their own introductory press conference: Brian Roberts, No. 14; Kelly Johnson, No. 33; Matt Thornton, and Scott Sizemore will be the lucky man to wear No. 24 this spring, Robinson Cano's old number. No. 48. Michael Pineda will get back No. 35, and Brendan Ryan switches to No. 39.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

Follow @GavinEwbank

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