Spring Training has arrived

Today is the day that pitchers and catchers report, it is more of a formality then anything else. It brings a sense of joy and spring, as it continues to be cold and snowy in the northeast at least you can look to the fields in Florida and Arizona and think of the upcoming season and know that spring is near. Tomorrow will be the first official workouts and today is a pretty quiet day but there were some quotes and for the Yankees Joe Girardi did meet with the media at noon. Here are some quotes and some of what the manager had to say courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal News and wondeful Lohud Yankees Blog. Phil Hughes had this to say regarding any change in the clubhouse because the Yankees are the champs for the first time in 9 years. " I don't think it will, last year was nice but we need to do it again. At the end of 2010, I don't think anyone will be thinking about who won it in 2009." This is the Yankees way and it is so ingrained in them that I wouldn't worry at all about complacency, plus they have enough new faces that didn't win it last year. I think once the Yankees are on top they want to stay there and the whole organization gets more and more hungry. Here is what Joe Girardi had to say. " The expectation here is the same every year. In a sense you are supposed to repeat every year. I don't really consiser complacency to be an issue because I know the people in the room." I agree with that, you are supposed to win every year as a Yankee and that is a hard thing to do but once they do it and know how to win I think they want it more and more. Here is some more highlights of his press conference: He said the # 1 concern in his mind is ironing out the lineup. He said it isn't that I am worried about it because I know guys can do the job but it is where do they all fit in the lineup. He said there is competition on the pitching staff but he will make it clear that it doesn't start right away. He said his message will be look we are just getting ready now. I think what he is trying to say here is not to go all out and hurt yourself trying to impress the coaches. There is enough time for the competition but lets start out slow and get ready. Girardi said that he feels comfortable with either Granderson or Gardner in center field and they will both play there and left field in the spring. He said it isn't necessarily who is better as an individual but what combo works the best that will decide left and center. He said he envisions the loser of the 5th starter battle going to the bullpen. He would like to have that spot determined by March 25th but that isn't set in stone. He also stressed it isn't all about spring statistics. He said that they are going to do another group outing the day before the first game. He said he has heard suggestions of paintball and bowling. Those ideas made him a little uneasy as he doesn't want to do anything that he feels guys can get hurt at. He said they will continue to talk about it and will decide eventually on doing something. He said he doesn't want anything that involves running through woods or swinging heavy objects.