Friends Forever

Maybe they don't hate each other after all.

From George A. King III:

Yesterday, Jeter said he knew about Rodriguez's prediction Thursday that Jeter would have a season worthy of an AL MVP award.

"He mentioned it to me when we were out at lunch the other day," Jeter said. "We were talking about different workout programs. I don't really think about it. The bottom line is to win." ...

... Jeter and Rodriguez had lunch, believed to be at P.F. Chang's before Wednesday's first full-squad workout, ...

"You all assume things you shouldn't assume," Jeter said when asked about the lunch being something of a surprise. "I have lunch with a lot of people."

When asked about the lunch, Rodriguez said, "Where did you get that [information] from?" Told Jeter voluntarily offered it, Rodriguez grinned.

A Yankees official said the relationship is "getting better, and that is good for the team."

"People put a lot more into [them not getting along] than they should. Alex having a family changed the dynamics, but people read too much into that," said Yankee manager Joe Girardi.

The best thing that can come out of this is that the media stops speculating about whether the two are friends or not. Oh, and I guess a little good team chemistry never hurt.