New York Yankees have outing to bond

Today was all about the group outing.  The Yankees got some work in this morning, it was a very light and quick workout so they could get on the bus and head to the comedy club where the Yankees did some improv.  According to all the accounts I have read Mark Teixeira was the star of the show.  They said it was surprising to see since he is so straight edged and business like but the guys really seemed to enjoy it. 

A few notes on tomorrow’s exhibition opener not grapefruit opener though:

Adam Warren gets the start for the Yankees. He’ll be followed out of the bullpen by Brett Marshall, Dan Burawa, Juan Cedeno, Graham Stoneburner, Ryan Pope and Kevin Whelan. Girardi said there are “a few backups” who will be prepared to pitch if necessary.

 Girardi plans to start his regular lineup, but the everyday guys will get only an at-bat or two. The regular infielders (who are also playing in Saturday’s game) will hit only once. The outfielders (who won’t play again until Sunday) will hit twice.

 Robinson Cano is the exception to the rule. He will not play tomorrow or Saturday. Cano missed three days of workouts to attend his great grandmother’s funeral, and Girardi said he won’t play in a game until Sunday.

The Yankees will play the University of South Florida.  They are a team that is 4-4, there isn't much to know and none of these exhibitions count but this one really doesn't.  The grapefruit league games will begin on Saturday afternoon against the Phillies. 

The other big story of the day if you want to call it that was Hal Steinbrenner.  He met with the media and discussed his desire for the first time publicly to be at or under the 189 million luxury tax threshold for 2014.  He stated that is is doable and he is a guy who doesn't want to overspend.  He said he is a finance geek and believes in budgets even for the Yankees.  He said there is no reason that the Yankees can't be great at that number also, he likes to develop through the system especially good young pitchers. 

I am sure the fans are going to react in different ways to this but it isn't much of a surprise.  You can tell pretty much right away when Hal took over that he was more budget cautious and opposite of his father in that way.  I think the Yankees are smart to get under that because it will save them a lot of money and just makes sense.