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Transition seamless for new Yankees
Fast friends, Sabathia and Burnett join Teixeira in blending in
TAMPA, Fla. -- It was the first day of full-squad workouts for the Yankees, and amazingly, no one seemed interested in any of the club's new faces. To CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, horror tales of the "rabid New York media" must have seemed completely absurd.
On that morning, the spotlight -- as it often is -- was focused squarely upon the shoulders of Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez. In some way, the slugger's recent controversies may have been an unintentional benefit to the Yankees, who have seen their biggest acquisitions adjust in relative peace.
"That's one thing about the Yankees -- there's always a bigger story than one player or a few players," Teixeira said. "Every day is something different."
There have been lessons and reminders along the way that things operate at a different speed around George M. Steinbrenner Field. Part of manager Joe Girardi's responsibilities are to ensure that three of baseball's biggest stars assimilate effortlessly.
Weeks away from the starting line of a marathon to October, the reviews have all clocked in on the positive side. As Girardi summarized, "I think all of our new players have adjusted very well."
Sabathia learned that the daily demands on the Yankees' ace are different than the relative seclusion of Indians camp, where those on the back fields of the now-abandoned Winter Haven, Fla., complex could get by with nary a microphone or shutterbug present.
Followed by photographers like the Pied Piper, Sabathia has found it difficult to hide -- on one recent occasion, he even had fans trail him home from dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Saying that it was "kind of" what he expected, Sabathia said that his transition into pinstripes has been smooth overall.
"Everybody is cool, and it's been a fun camp so far," Sabathia said. "It's pretty much, what you see is what you get."
And Sabathia has been given plenty, months after signing a $161 million deal that could keep him in New York through 2015. Only a few minutes had passed on the first day of camp, and Sabathia already had a new nickname, courtesy of Joba Chamberlain: "Big Slim."
Crossing paths while jogging in the outfield before a Yankees-Indians game in 2007, Chamberlain and Sabathia became fast friends, swapping text messages and even conversing this offseason while the lefty mulled the Yankees' offers.
"I don't care who you are -- I know how uncomfortable it is going to new places," Chamberlain said. "I think he has a great personality to make it easier for him. I think if everyone else around him makes it a little easier as well, he can feel like more of the team while getting comfortable."
The decisions made by general manager Brian Cashman this offseason even sparked a friendship. Sabathia and Burnett shared a rare dual news conference in the Bronx last December, Burnett discussing his five-year, $82.5 million deal.
Finally in uniform, the two have bounced discussion topics off of each other, including the increased attention from media and fans.
"We're feeding off each other and helping each other through this," Burnett said. "We're going to be together for a long time. It was a good thing that we hit it off from the get-go. We have a lot of things in common, and it's going to be a fun time."
Burnett's stance on attention is apparent. Put it this way -- he will never earn the nickname "Camera," as Expos teammates once tagged TV-friendly catcher Gary Carter. Asked on Day 1 whether he will be comfortable operating in the Yankees' fishbowl, Burnett responded, "You're going to have to ask me that in about a week, OK?"
But that week passed without incident, and Burnett believes he will handle whatever New York throws his way. Stating that his most important task is to remain healthy and make all of his starts, Burnett promises that he will never point fingers.
"If something goes wrong out there, it's my fault," Burnett said.
"Baseball is the same game. I played in the American League the majority of my career, and I know all of the stadiums. I know most of the pitchers and who I'm going to play against."
-- Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira
Accountability is a key, and for the newest Yankees, even a mundane task like signing autographs can become an event. On a recent afternoon, Teixeira stopped in wonder as fans clawed through a chain-link fence, dozens fighting for space so the Yankees' new first baseman would scribble on their souvenirs.
"They're passionate, and it's great," Teixeira said. "All they want to do is see the Yankees win. You've got to vomito that. They all say, 'Good luck,' and, 'We're going to bring back a World Series.' That's what you want to hear from your fans."
By committing to a eight-year, $180 million contract, Teixeira is in New York for the long haul. His wife, Leigh, is busily moving into a new home in Greenwich, Conn., and Teixeira said that the most important adjustments he will need to make are likely to come away from Yankee Stadium.
"Baseball is the same game," Teixeira said. "I played in the American League the majority of my career, and I know all of the stadiums. I know most of the pitchers and who I'm going to play against.
"But I'm moving into a new house and driving to the Stadium for the first time -- traffic in New York. It's more of the off-the-field stuff that you have to really juggle. On the field, you're playing nine innings of baseball."
Teixeira seems sincere about his intentions. As he conducted his first group interview of camp, Teixeira shook hands with each reporter and promised he would soon be able to recite each name by heart. He has made similar vows for Minor League coaches and clubhouse attendants.
"It's important for me to get to know those guys," Teixeira said. "It's a work in progress, and it's going to take me a long time to get to remember every clubbie, media member, everybody in the front office. It definitely takes a while."
Considering the ruckus that followed the Yankees' signings of Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira, it might be somewhat surprising that a less-heralded acquisition has been the loudest addition to camp.
Though Nick Swisher's tenure as the Yankees' starting first baseman expired when Teixeira signed on the dotted line on Dec. 23, Swisher has wasted no time setting up and getting comfortable, injecting his boisterous personality into the Yankees' clubhouse.
"I think the biggest thing that has brought my personality back out is a true testament to the way these guys have welcomed me in," Swisher said. "That makes you feel so good, especially a team as historic as the New York Yankees.
"The way these guys welcomed in a nobody like me, I feel like I can really be myself and I don't have to walk on eggshells. I'm back to having that fire and that passion for this game."
One major ingredient of Swisher's transition has been music. After eyeing Johnny Damon's portable music machine one day, Swisher one-upped the veteran and has introduced an iPod stuffed with Lil Wayne, T.I. and Ludacris to the Yankees' air space. So far, no one has challenged Swisher's DJing.
"It's extremely different than what I thought it would be," Swisher said. "I thought I'd come over here and you could hear a pin drop in the locker room -- it'd be very corporate. That's not the case."
"It's extremely different than what I thought it would be. I thought I'd come over here and you could hear a pin drop in the locker room -- it'd be very corporate. That's not the case."
-- Nick Swisher
Preferring to keep his musical tastes to himself and an unlikely competitor should the Yankees hold "American Idol" night, Burnett said that the biggest differences he has noticed in Yankees camp concern the expectations.
"Everything is first class, and they expect to win," Burnett said. "Here, it's expected, and it's good. I think they brought the right guys in to mix with the guys they had here, and everybody is hitting it off."
That is not by accident. Last month, Girardi started thinking about what he might do differently in Year 2, having absorbed some hard lessons in guiding New York to an 89-win showing in his first season as the club's manager.
Girardi knew what it was like to be the new face on a team with high expectations. He hit just .243 in his first month for the 1996 Yankees and was repeatedly told to stop trying to be what he isn't. He heard the message and hit .321 in May, then .375 in July for former skipper Joe Torre's first World Series winner.
One idea to cut off that slow start came in letting his team play hooky for a billiards tournament in Tampa, as much an exercise in getting-to-know-you as it was for the restaurant gift certificates players competed for.
"I think it's all coming together as a team," Girardi said. "This game is meant to be fun. It is work for us, this is our job, but it's still called a game. You can't expect one day to form a family, but I think it was the right step with having important new guys in camp."
The goals, Sabathia said, are not necessarily so different from the other 29 teams. Certainly, everyone wants to remain healthy and have a winning season that concludes with a cold Champagne bath. It's the demands that are different.
"It's more so here, because we've got some of the best players in the league," Sabathia said. "The goal is definitely to win a World Series."
And Sabathia believes the Yankees have the horses to reach that objective. Asked if this is the best team he has ever played on, Sabathia fires back a "Yes," with the same sizzle of a four-seam fastball piercing the strike zone.
"I'm sure," Sabathia said. "How could it not be?"
Glancing around the Yankees' clubhouse, Teixeira also sees an All-Star cast ready to support the objective. The Yankees should expect to win the World Series this year, he said, but face an uphill fight with the Rays and Red Sox based upon last year's American League East standings.
"We have a lot of work to do," Teixeira said. "You really can't size up how the team is going to play, but I know we have the talent to be the best team I've ever been on. It's just a matter of us going out and doing the job."
Fast friends, Sabathia and Burnett join Teixeira in blending in
TAMPA, Fla. -- It was the first day of full-squad workouts for the Yankees, and amazingly, no one seemed interested in any of the club's new faces. To CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, horror tales of the "rabid New York media" must have seemed completely absurd.
On that morning, the spotlight -- as it often is -- was focused squarely upon the shoulders of Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez. In some way, the slugger's recent controversies may have been an unintentional benefit to the Yankees, who have seen their biggest acquisitions adjust in relative peace.
"That's one thing about the Yankees -- there's always a bigger story than one player or a few players," Teixeira said. "Every day is something different."
There have been lessons and reminders along the way that things operate at a different speed around George M. Steinbrenner Field. Part of manager Joe Girardi's responsibilities are to ensure that three of baseball's biggest stars assimilate effortlessly.
Weeks away from the starting line of a marathon to October, the reviews have all clocked in on the positive side. As Girardi summarized, "I think all of our new players have adjusted very well."
Sabathia learned that the daily demands on the Yankees' ace are different than the relative seclusion of Indians camp, where those on the back fields of the now-abandoned Winter Haven, Fla., complex could get by with nary a microphone or shutterbug present.
Followed by photographers like the Pied Piper, Sabathia has found it difficult to hide -- on one recent occasion, he even had fans trail him home from dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Saying that it was "kind of" what he expected, Sabathia said that his transition into pinstripes has been smooth overall.
"Everybody is cool, and it's been a fun camp so far," Sabathia said. "It's pretty much, what you see is what you get."
And Sabathia has been given plenty, months after signing a $161 million deal that could keep him in New York through 2015. Only a few minutes had passed on the first day of camp, and Sabathia already had a new nickname, courtesy of Joba Chamberlain: "Big Slim."
Crossing paths while jogging in the outfield before a Yankees-Indians game in 2007, Chamberlain and Sabathia became fast friends, swapping text messages and even conversing this offseason while the lefty mulled the Yankees' offers.
"I don't care who you are -- I know how uncomfortable it is going to new places," Chamberlain said. "I think he has a great personality to make it easier for him. I think if everyone else around him makes it a little easier as well, he can feel like more of the team while getting comfortable."
The decisions made by general manager Brian Cashman this offseason even sparked a friendship. Sabathia and Burnett shared a rare dual news conference in the Bronx last December, Burnett discussing his five-year, $82.5 million deal.
Finally in uniform, the two have bounced discussion topics off of each other, including the increased attention from media and fans.
"We're feeding off each other and helping each other through this," Burnett said. "We're going to be together for a long time. It was a good thing that we hit it off from the get-go. We have a lot of things in common, and it's going to be a fun time."
Burnett's stance on attention is apparent. Put it this way -- he will never earn the nickname "Camera," as Expos teammates once tagged TV-friendly catcher Gary Carter. Asked on Day 1 whether he will be comfortable operating in the Yankees' fishbowl, Burnett responded, "You're going to have to ask me that in about a week, OK?"
But that week passed without incident, and Burnett believes he will handle whatever New York throws his way. Stating that his most important task is to remain healthy and make all of his starts, Burnett promises that he will never point fingers.
"If something goes wrong out there, it's my fault," Burnett said.
"Baseball is the same game. I played in the American League the majority of my career, and I know all of the stadiums. I know most of the pitchers and who I'm going to play against."
-- Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira
Accountability is a key, and for the newest Yankees, even a mundane task like signing autographs can become an event. On a recent afternoon, Teixeira stopped in wonder as fans clawed through a chain-link fence, dozens fighting for space so the Yankees' new first baseman would scribble on their souvenirs.
"They're passionate, and it's great," Teixeira said. "All they want to do is see the Yankees win. You've got to vomito that. They all say, 'Good luck,' and, 'We're going to bring back a World Series.' That's what you want to hear from your fans."
By committing to a eight-year, $180 million contract, Teixeira is in New York for the long haul. His wife, Leigh, is busily moving into a new home in Greenwich, Conn., and Teixeira said that the most important adjustments he will need to make are likely to come away from Yankee Stadium.
"Baseball is the same game," Teixeira said. "I played in the American League the majority of my career, and I know all of the stadiums. I know most of the pitchers and who I'm going to play against.
"But I'm moving into a new house and driving to the Stadium for the first time -- traffic in New York. It's more of the off-the-field stuff that you have to really juggle. On the field, you're playing nine innings of baseball."
Teixeira seems sincere about his intentions. As he conducted his first group interview of camp, Teixeira shook hands with each reporter and promised he would soon be able to recite each name by heart. He has made similar vows for Minor League coaches and clubhouse attendants.
"It's important for me to get to know those guys," Teixeira said. "It's a work in progress, and it's going to take me a long time to get to remember every clubbie, media member, everybody in the front office. It definitely takes a while."
Considering the ruckus that followed the Yankees' signings of Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira, it might be somewhat surprising that a less-heralded acquisition has been the loudest addition to camp.
Though Nick Swisher's tenure as the Yankees' starting first baseman expired when Teixeira signed on the dotted line on Dec. 23, Swisher has wasted no time setting up and getting comfortable, injecting his boisterous personality into the Yankees' clubhouse.
"I think the biggest thing that has brought my personality back out is a true testament to the way these guys have welcomed me in," Swisher said. "That makes you feel so good, especially a team as historic as the New York Yankees.
"The way these guys welcomed in a nobody like me, I feel like I can really be myself and I don't have to walk on eggshells. I'm back to having that fire and that passion for this game."
One major ingredient of Swisher's transition has been music. After eyeing Johnny Damon's portable music machine one day, Swisher one-upped the veteran and has introduced an iPod stuffed with Lil Wayne, T.I. and Ludacris to the Yankees' air space. So far, no one has challenged Swisher's DJing.
"It's extremely different than what I thought it would be," Swisher said. "I thought I'd come over here and you could hear a pin drop in the locker room -- it'd be very corporate. That's not the case."
"It's extremely different than what I thought it would be. I thought I'd come over here and you could hear a pin drop in the locker room -- it'd be very corporate. That's not the case."
-- Nick Swisher
Preferring to keep his musical tastes to himself and an unlikely competitor should the Yankees hold "American Idol" night, Burnett said that the biggest differences he has noticed in Yankees camp concern the expectations.
"Everything is first class, and they expect to win," Burnett said. "Here, it's expected, and it's good. I think they brought the right guys in to mix with the guys they had here, and everybody is hitting it off."
That is not by accident. Last month, Girardi started thinking about what he might do differently in Year 2, having absorbed some hard lessons in guiding New York to an 89-win showing in his first season as the club's manager.
Girardi knew what it was like to be the new face on a team with high expectations. He hit just .243 in his first month for the 1996 Yankees and was repeatedly told to stop trying to be what he isn't. He heard the message and hit .321 in May, then .375 in July for former skipper Joe Torre's first World Series winner.
One idea to cut off that slow start came in letting his team play hooky for a billiards tournament in Tampa, as much an exercise in getting-to-know-you as it was for the restaurant gift certificates players competed for.
"I think it's all coming together as a team," Girardi said. "This game is meant to be fun. It is work for us, this is our job, but it's still called a game. You can't expect one day to form a family, but I think it was the right step with having important new guys in camp."
The goals, Sabathia said, are not necessarily so different from the other 29 teams. Certainly, everyone wants to remain healthy and have a winning season that concludes with a cold Champagne bath. It's the demands that are different.
"It's more so here, because we've got some of the best players in the league," Sabathia said. "The goal is definitely to win a World Series."
And Sabathia believes the Yankees have the horses to reach that objective. Asked if this is the best team he has ever played on, Sabathia fires back a "Yes," with the same sizzle of a four-seam fastball piercing the strike zone.
"I'm sure," Sabathia said. "How could it not be?"
Glancing around the Yankees' clubhouse, Teixeira also sees an All-Star cast ready to support the objective. The Yankees should expect to win the World Series this year, he said, but face an uphill fight with the Rays and Red Sox based upon last year's American League East standings.
"We have a lot of work to do," Teixeira said. "You really can't size up how the team is going to play, but I know we have the talent to be the best team I've ever been on. It's just a matter of us going out and doing the job."
