Hank Takes Shots at Revenue Sharing System & Jeter

From Nick Cafardo:

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner shares Red Sox owner John Henry's view that something needs to be done about revenue sharing in baseball.

...

"We've got to do a little something about that and I know Bud (Selig) wants to," Steinbrenner said. "There's a way. Obviously we're very much allied with the Red Sox, and Mets and Dodgers and Cubs, in that area. At some point if you don't want to worry about teams in minor markets, don't put teams in minor markets or don't leave teams in minor markets. Socialism, communism is never the answer."

When asked about Boston's spiraling payroll and spending spree this offseason, Steinbrenner said., Steinbrenner said, "John (Henry) is committed to winning as we are. He'll do what he has to do."

He added, "The Red Sox are always gonna be there with the Yankees along with five or six other teams who can win the World Series. This year it's the Phillies. The AL East is an SOB."

OK, nothing wrong with anything here, but then there was this quote that's sure to offend a certain Yankees shortstop:

Concerning his own team, Steinbrenner said that he sees a hunger returning to the team, the same hunger he saw in 2009.

"In 09 I saw it," he said. "... Sometimes they celebrated a little too much last year. Some of the players too busy building mansions and concentrating on other things and not concentrating on winning. I have no problems saying that. They've come into this spring with a new hunger and that's what it takes to win."

The one player who built a "mansion" was Derek Jeter.

"I'm not singling anybody out," Steinbrenner said. "This year, from what I've seen by our coaches they've come in with a real new drive and determination, the kind they had in '09. I think they felt embarrassed last year. It bothers them."

Hank can say he's not singling anyone out all he wants, but it's clear he's talking about Jeter. And I honestly can't find any reason why Hank would think it was a good idea to let the words escape from his head.

Seriously, Hank, it's time to stop talking in public.

Hank: "We just have to f***Ing win"

From Kevin Kernan:

Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees co-chairman, is fired up for the 2011 season -- even without Cliff Lee in pinstripes.

"We will do what we have to do to win," Steinbrenner told The Post recently in a wide-ranging interview at Steinbrenner Field. "We have the highest payroll and the reason is we are committed to our fans to win.

"We just have to (bleeping) win," Hank added emphatically, looking out onto the field and sounding much like his father.

...

"I'm really happy with our bullpen," Hank said. "You got both Rivera and Soriano, then you got Chamberlain and [David] Robertson and so forth. I think Chamberlain is going to come back and have a big year."

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"The fans pay the bills, we owe it to ourselves and to them to put the best product out there," Hank said. "If we couldn't get Cliff Lee, I'm really happy about getting Soriano. I just wish Lee would have given Brian the chance to meet with him, but [Lee] was on a hunting trip. He's got his own reasons."

...

"Hopefully our starters will get the job done," he said. "Hopefully Andy [Pettitte] will come back. He knows we want him back. It's strictly up to him now. Even though he's already got five rings, he's the type, like Mo, like [Derek] Jeter, like [Jorge] Posada, he wants another one.

...

"We got those kids coming too, [Ivan] Nova more as a starter, and the others [including big right-hander Dellin Betances and lefty Manny Banuelos]. You never know, one or two of them may join the team," Steinbrenner said. "I know some of our baseball people don't agree with our other baseball people a lot of the time, but they all like Nova.

...

"I think A.J. [Burnett] is going to come back and have at least the kind of year like he had two years ago. CC Sabathia is going to be great as usual. Phil Hughes, we're expecting more big things.

"I say we have one of the top four teams in baseball, whether we end up being the best or not, we'll see."

Hank, who apparently couldn't stop talking, had a lot more to say. He spoke about how the AL East remains the best division in baseball, A.J. Burnett, the lineup, and Alex Rodriguez.

Olney Talks About the Yankees Front Office

We already heard what Tim Kurkjian had to say, now Buster Olney add his 2 cents.

A Little More On That "Rift" Between Ownership and Cashman

Jon Heyman has the info:

Buster Olney twat the same thing as well.

The Daily News also reported this morning that Cash was overruled by both Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. Mainly because they didn't like the idea of going into the season with a starting rotation full of question marks "and little protection for closer Mariano Rivera." They also weren't too fond of Cashman's plan to have Joba Chamberlain open the season as the Yanks main setup guy.

Hank Talks About Cliff

From Ronald Blum:

“For somebody of that stature, it would certainly behoove him to be a Yankee, which would probably be for the rest of his career,” Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ co-chairman, said during a telephone interview Friday with The Associated Press. “I think that would be a great move for him but, of course I’m prejudiced.”

...

“Everything is progressing,” Steinbrenner said. “We made the offer. It’s a very good offer, and we certainly hopes he takes it. It’s all up to him and his agent. We’ll see what happens.”
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Lee would be 39 in the contract’s final season, but Steinbrenner isn’t worried. He cites the example of Pettitte, who at 38 was 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA this year while missing two months because of a groin strain, a year after going 14-8 with a 4.16 ERA.

“Looking at how well Andy pitched up until this year and so forth, and he’s a lefty, the same kind of pitcher as Andy, I don’t really see a problem,” Steinbrenner said. “I think Cliff’s the kind of guy that can get it done and be effective for a long time. He’s a great pitcher.”
...

“Having Cliff and CC would be huge for us,” Steinbrenner said. “But it would be huge no matter whether they were lefty or righty, because they’re just that good.”

Hank on Jeter & Mo: "We've already made these guys very, very rich"

From The AP:

Hank Steinbrenner has a message as the New York Yankees negotiate to re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

"As much as we want to keep everybody, we've already made these guys very, very rich, and I don't feel we owe anybody anything monetarily,'' the Yankees co-chairman said Tuesday. "Some of these players are wealthier than their bosses."

...

"Negotiating is always a process,'' Steinbrenner said. "I know he wants to stay. It's going to come down to what's fair for everybody considering all circumstances.''
...

"Do we want to keep Derek? Of course we do, obviously," Steinbrenner said. "Obviously we all want to keep Derek and we all want to keep Mo."

Steinbrenner remains confident deals will be reached to keep the pair.

"I don't think in the end they will be unreasonable,'' he said. "It's going to come down to what's fair for everybody considering all circumstances."

The best part about all these quotes and statements is that they're almost totally meaningless. Jeter (and Mo) aren't going anywhere and will both start the 2011 season right where they belong -- in Yankees pinstripes.

Hank Talks About The Playoffs

From Matt Ehalt (hat-tip to Was Watching):

Speaking Thursday at Yankee Stadium, the part-owner of the Yankees said he believes the Yankees will be defending their World Series championship come October.

"I think were doing great considering Andy's (Pettitte) out and a couple of other problems," Steinbrenner said. "Obviously, were in the toughest division by far in baseball. So its going to be a struggle down to the wire. We'd like to win the division, but I think we can be rest assured were going to get the playoffs, then its a matter of what we do from there."

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In addition to his playoff prediction, Steinbrenner reassured fans that the Yankees will continue to operate as they always have in the future and talked about the loss of his father, the late George Steinbrenner, before the First Annual Boss Cup at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon.

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"It's not difficult for all of us getting back in the business of baseball because again we still just want to win every year if we can, no different than he did," Steinbrenner said. "Business is usual, as far as that goes."

He also spoke about how great the support has been from Yankees fans regarding his father's death.

“Obviously the fans have been great,” Steinbrenner told the Daily News. “We got a lot of letters, condolence cards, sympathy cards from fans, probably more than anyone else.”

Hank did a lot to make himself look like an ass when he originally stormed onto the scene back in 2007, but since taking a step back he seems to have learned how to deal with the media. However, I don't think his father would ever have been satisfied with the Wild Card.

Lupica: This Ain't George's Yankees Anymore

From Mike Lupica:

They're not your old man's Yankees anymore, and won't ever be again.

If you saw the whole movie with the old man, not just the second act, you know that is not entirely a bad thing.

For now, the people in charge of the Yankees, starting with the Steinbrenner heirs, are able to spend money and watch the money roll in. It doesn't make anybody a baseball Warren Buffett. Maybe they even watch the Yankees win a second title in a row in the fall. The old man, George Steinbrenner, came in with two straight titles, at the end of the 1970s, and that was another time when people began to assume the Yankees would be on top forever.

The way they were going to be on top forever after they won four World Series in five years through the Subway Series of 2000.

We'll see about that. And we'll see if the team is going to stay in the family forever. We hear that now. It's all over coverage in the media of Hal Steinbrenner especially, coverage that can only be described this way: Please like me best.

But the Yankees, with the old man gone, won't be evaluated, from this point forward, on what anybody says or what anybody tells us. They will be evaluated on what they do.

We will find out in different ways, the way we did this week when no Yankee players, not a single one, past or present, attended Bob Sheppard's funeral. It is not the end of the world, or a sign of one. Just quite revealing, even as the Yankees tried to blame the media. Of course.

In another time, when the old man was around, there would have been more of a Yankee presence than that. The Yankees like to Yankee things up when it suits them, and when it is good for business. Then it all becomes practically a religious ceremony. Just not Bob Sheppard's ceremony.

"George loved being in charge," a baseball team executive from another part of the country told me this week. "But he loved the Yankees more. Now you have people in charge, like Hal, and (Randy) Levine and even Brian (Cashman), who love the power."

It doesn't mean that Hal and Hank Steinbrenner and their sisters are going to decide in a couple of years to sell the team. But just because we are being told that they won't doesn't mean that they won't, even if their father dying when he did was like one last stroke of business genius, saving his kids about half-a-billion in estate taxes because of a hole in the tax laws that will surely be closed by the end of this year.

And if the politicians try to come back at families like the Steinbrenners, and somehow hit them for that tax money retroactively, it still doesn't mean they'll sell.

He goes on to praise Hal for his work on building last year's championship team, but still wonders where the team will go from here. It's a questions that I'm sure is on the minds of most Yankees fans as we officially enter the post-George era.

We'll see if there are big thinkers around now, not just big spenders. We'll see about a lot of things. For now, people say all the right things. The people around Hal try to do what they did with the old man, which means tell him what he wants to hear.

They keep calling this a family business. Only it was never that until the old man started to fade. The family business was him.

Good point. It was the Boss's business and nothing else for a long time, and if you ask me, this is all on one person and not the family as a whole. And than man is Hal Steinbrenner. He was giving the reigns when Hank proved to be nothing more than an attention grabbing loudmouth, and it will be up to Hal to continue to keep the Yankees right where they're supposed to be: at the top of the baseball world.

The Boss To Attend Opening Day

From the AP:

Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner has told The Associated Press that "the plan" is for owner George Steinbrenner to attend opening day in New York on April 13.

His last trip to the stadium was for game 2 of the World Series, opening day should be his next. Number 27 was for him and he deserves to be there.

A Hank Steinbrenner Sighting

Hank Steinbrenner made a rare appearance and spoke with the AP today. He discussed several topics, including this past offseason, the Yankees chances in 2010, and Derek Jeter's future contract negotiations. Here's more from the AP via the NY Post:

Hank Steinbrenner thinks the Yankees are in a strong position to repeat as World Series champion due to the acquisition of pitcher Javier Vazquez and outfielder Curtis Granderson.
...

“The two trades that Brian did I was really pleased with and very proud of,” Steinbrenner. a team co-chairman, said Thursday. “I think that is going to make a big difference for us.” ...

“We needed another top-notch starter and got one,” Steinbrenner said.
...

Derek Jeter, who has started pre-spring training workouts at the team’s minor league complex, spent time Thursday with Hank Steinbrenner and his brother, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner.

“I asked him his opinion, and he said, ‘It’s all about pitching,’” Hank Steinbrenner said of Jeter.

As far as Jeter's contract goes, Steinbrenner said, "We’ll get into all of that eventually. Jeter’s place in Yankee history is obvious, so I think you can pretty much assume from there.”

Sounds like Hank has no plans to let Jeter play anywhere else, which is exactly the attitude the entire organization should have regarding The Captain. It would be wrong on so many levels if Jeter were to ever play anywhere but with the Yanks.

Luxury Tax Time For Yanks

The Yankees were the only team forced to pay a luxury tax for the 2009 season, and the bill came in at just under $26 million ($25.69). Marc Carig has some more info on the luxury (Yankee) tax:

The Yankees have been billed $174 million of the tax's $190 million total since 2003. The only other teams to pay have been Boston ($13.9 million for 2004-7), Detroit ($1.3 million for 2008) and the Los Angeles Angels ($927,059 for 2004).

So the Yanks 27th championship ends up costing the organization $281.89 million. To me it was well worth it. I'm sure the Steinbrenner's feel the same way.

Yanks Brass To Meet Next Week

From Ken Davidoff:

Brian Cashman will meet with the Steinbrenners next week in Tampa - likely Thursday, Dec. 3 - to fully discuss the Yankees' offseason budget and plans, Newsday has learned.

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"Once I get some firm numbers, then I can go ahead and start putting together some ideas," Cashman said.

Brian Cashman, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, team president Randy Levine and COO Lonn Trost are all expected to be at the meetings. I would assume Joe Girardi will be there too, but I'm not positive about that.

Both Hal and Cashman are set at remaining a championship team while simultaneously lowering payroll.

"I think the big picture is to be real efficient with how we allocate our resources," Cashman said. "Obviously, last year showed examples of, depending who it is, we can step up in a big way. I think we're going to try to be careful. Careful doesn't mean slow. We're trying to spend it wisely, make the right commitments to use for the present and the future.''

Cashman also told Chad Jennings that while the Yankees want to also get younger, "but being younger only with the idea of getting better.”

Joe Girardi and Cashman also told Jennings that the rotation would be the first thing they have to address.

I like the approach the team appears to be taking, you?

A Statement From The Steinbrenners To The Fans

Here's an official release from Hank and Hal Steinbrenner via the Yankees:

"After the overwhelming public response to the historic achievement of our 27th World Championship, I would like to thank our fans for their highly spirited and remarkably steadfast support this season."

"The New York Yankees have long enjoyed the positive effects of the world's greatest fans. It is a real and tangible benefit to our success every day and every game. Each and every fan contributed this season, from the 3.7 million who attended our home games to the millions more who lined the 'Canyon of Heroes' for our victory parade."

"Throughout the season, the team found inspiration in the very essence of New York City and its people. By persevering and never wavering from our goal, the Yankees reflected the true spirit and determination that defines the city of New York."

Another thank you should go out to the Steinbrenners for putting such a great team on the field, and the team, managers, coaches and staff for performing like they did.

Yanks Shine During HOPE Week

And I'm not talking about on the field.

HOPE (Helping Others Persevere and Excel) week officially ended yesterday, and as a Yankees fan I have to say that I'm very proud of what the organization did this week. The Yankees - all of them - spent the last week helping those who are less fortunate.

Here's some of the press release from last week describing HOPE week:

The New York Yankees are proud to introduce HOPE Week (Helping Others Persevere & Excel), a unique week-long community program that will bring to light five remarkable stories intended to inspire individuals into action in their own communities.

The creation of HOPE Week is rooted in the fundamental belief that acts of goodwill provide hope and encouragement to more than just the recipient of the gesture.

Each day from Monday, July 20, through Friday, July 24, Yankees players will reach out to an individual, family or organization worthy of recognition and support. All daily celebrations will culminate at Yankee Stadium, however, outreach will often take place away from the ballpark. Whenever possible, the Yankees' goal is to personally connect with individuals in the settings of their greatest personal accomplishments.

You can also check out a detailed description of each day's events in the press release. Huge props must go out to Yankees head of PR Jason Zillo who came up HOPE Week, and organized the events.

Peter Abraham had a nice post on it this morning, and included a couple links to some videos introducing HOPE Week on the Today Show.

Once again the Yankees show just how much of a class organization they are.

Madden: Please, fix Yankee Stadium, Boss

Most of the time I disagree with Bill Madden, this is not one of those times. This weekend in the Daily News he decided to write an open letter to George Steinbrenner pointing out many of the problems with the new place, and suggestions on how to fix it. Madden rightfully throws most of, if not all the blame on Lonn Trost. After all, this new stadium was his project.

You all know my complaints with the new place, so I won't get into that. Also, Madden pretty much lays everything out in his letter. But I'd really love to know what The Boss thinks of all this. Does he care? Does he even know? I know one thing; the old Boss would be pissed.

I also hope the people in charge of this organization haven't lost their way as much as it appears that they have. Forget the baseball side of things for a moment, but it appears that the entire organization has lost its soul. Are Hank and Hal really going to continue to allow weasels like Lonn Trost and Randy Levine ruin the Yankees brand? Because it sure looks like that's what they're doing.

Why Wasn't This Treated Last Year?

From Tyler Kepner and Jack Curry:

Cashman said the Yankees discovered an irregularity in Rodriguez’s hip last May when he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam for a right quadriceps injury. By June or July, the hitting coach Kevin Long said he could notice subtle changes in Rodriguez’s hitting, notably in his right foot — the back one in his stance.

The foot was not pivoting fully, Long said, and as a result, Rodriguez could not completely turn his waist and clear his hips. This caused his bat to drag and prevented him from driving through the ball and generating maximum power.

“Speed-wise, to catch up to 95-, 96-mile-an-hour pitches, you’ve basically got to get your hips through,” Long said. “It affects bat speed, power, balance. From a technical standpoint, it affects quite a few things. But he’s so gifted and so talented that he made do with what he had.”

Cashman said Rodriguez had always had stiff hips, and there was no need to examine him after the season. The condition was so minor, Cashman said, that Rodriguez did not seek treatment from team trainers last season.

“That’s why I termed it as an incidental finding,” Cashman said. “If you took an M.R.I. right now of everybody in our clubhouse, you are going to find in many of them — 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent — the same finding. Just because they have it doesn’t mean it’s a problem. Just because you have it doesn’t mean you need surgery.

“So that’s why you put it in the file,” he said. “You treat the patient, not the symptom. You don’t treat the M.R.I. You treat the patient.”

Other infielders had hip operations this winter, including Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell and Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. Both may be ready for the season opener.

If the Red Sox and Phillies were smart enough to handle their infielders' hip injuries over the offseason, why weren't the Yankees?

The blame falls squarely onto the laps of Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, and Alex Rodriguez himself. I'm shocked that not one of these guys thought it would be wise to handle this problem during the offseason just to be safe.

Now, as you know, A-Rod will be forced to attempt to play through the injury or have surgery that will put him on the shelf for most of the upcoming season. There's no getting around it, Cashman and co. took a manageable situation and turned it into a complete mess.

Hank Responds To Sox Salary Cap Talk

Yesterday, Red Sox owner John Henry and President Larry Lucchino both said it was time to for Major League Baseball to join the other sports and go to a salary cap. Presumably because they're still upset about be burned in the Mark Teixeira signing.

Here's what Hank Steinbrenner had to say to the AP (hat tip to Was Watching):

Or, as Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said, "the Yankees have spent like the U.S. Congress." That drew a quick response from Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

"Along with a few other teams, we're basically baseball's stimulus package," he said.

New York thinks it has the right to spend after paying at least $110 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax last year.

"As long as we're doing that and giving all this money to other teams in revenue sharing, a staggering amount, we should be able to spend on salaries what we want to," Steinbrenner said. "Because of revenue sharing and because of the popularity nationwide, the Yankees are critical to baseball."

I agree completely.

Wednesday's A-Rod Opinions

Since each day there is so much about A-Rod I'll just leave it all it one post for you guys to read.

- Hank Steinbrenner supports Alex 100%:

Asked what he thought of the A-Rod situation, Hank said: "Not much, just we support him and we're going to do everything we can to make his season a successful one, to help him do that ... I'm not angry at him at all and I support him 100 percent."

Steinbrenner said the Yankees' braintrust did not consider seeking to void Rodriguez's 10-year, $275-million contract, a step they reportedly contemplated when Jason Giambi made his tacit admission of steroid use in 2005.

"No, we didn't get into anything like that," he said.

He also said,

"I'm not going to comment on anything that can be twisted around, which happens obviously in the media," he said. "So basically it's no comment except for the fact that I support him and I'm personally not angry at all."

- Here's what Brian Cashman had to say about the A-Rod steroid scandal.

For the third time since 2005, the Yankees will open spring training with one of their players being dogged by questions about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Cashman said the Yankees have a responsibility to “be there for the tough times” with players, and he stressed that this was one of those times.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been in this situation with Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi,” Cashman said. “There’s going to be a lot of negatives that come with this. There’s also going to be positives in terms of having some light shed on things. The circumstances are what they are. We’ll deal with it.”

As much as Cashman hopes that Rodriguez is immune to the commotion and produces, he expected the steroid tag to cling to him.

“This will be a long process,” Cashman said. “It was a long way for Jason Giambi. I don’t know if it ever really went away. Maybe it wasn’t as loud. It was very loud and then it got softer, but there were always rumblings about it. There always will be.

“Ultimately, Alex has the responsibility for it,” Cashman said. “He will have to deal with it in many forms throughout his career and even post-career. That’s why yesterday was such an important step for him to acknowledge whatever mistakes have been made in the past.”

- John Joeansonne of Newsday wonders if A-Rod is really off steroids.

Alex Rodriguez's ability to convince steroid experts - not to mention the public - that he long ago swore off performance-enhancing drugs not only could prove to be a Ruthian challenge, but also irrelevant.

Given the loopholes constantly found in testing, from the development of stealth steroids not yet decoded by screening labs to matters of timing and athletes' tricks of manipulation, negative test results do not necessarily guarantee an athlete is clean. Former world champion sprinter Kelli White, as just one example, testified at a 2005 congressional hearing that she passed 17 screenings while using the designer drug THG and masking agents provided her by BALCO founder Victor Conte.

So when former weightlifter and steroid expert Terry Todd hears Rodriguez's claim that he discontinued juicing before he signed with the Yankees in 2004, Todd's reaction is, "Anytime anyone says something like that to me, I'm always very skeptical."

Not only does Todd believe Rodriguez "damn sure could have been taking testosterone all this time," by getting drug-guru advice on taking amounts just small enough not to trigger a positive test (since testosterone is found naturally in the body), but he also believes Rodriguez still could be benefiting from steroid use from six years ago.

- A day after calling A-Rod's admission a "short-term win," Wallace Matthews says A-Rod "should apologize for his sorry performance."

He said, in all mock solemnity, "I know the consequences," when in fact, it should have taken all his self-control to keep from laughing right in Peter Gammons' face.

Oh, he knows the consequences, all right. There aren't any.

For all the cries of witch hunt and the idea of athletes as victims being expressed by ballplayers, their agents and their many apologists, not a single player has lost a job because of an admission of steroid use.

Not a single player's career has been hurt by using steroids. On the contrary, many great careers were made and many obscenely inflated paychecks earned solely because of them.

Still, nearly a decade after the "witch hunt" began, the only guy to go to jail is Greg Anderson, a personal trainer with an unshakable loyalty to Bonds.

That's why it has become laughable to hear the expressions of sympathy and support for poor, besieged A-Rod coming from all corners of the baseball universe, with the exception of the one inhabited by Derek Jeter.

He's being lauded for his honesty (huh?), his courage (say what?), and his ability to face down the adversity, which of course is totally of his own making. One baseball commentator even commended A-Rod for "going on national television to answer the questions," as if being given a forum to tell your self-serving story to millions of gullible viewers was some sort of hardship rather than a priceless luxury.

- Mike Lupica says A-Rod was trying to convince future Hall of Fame voters during Monday's apology.

What Rodriguez was really doing on Monday was this:

Laying out his own defense brief for his own Hall of Fame credentials, at the beginning of a trial that could last as long as 15 years. That part of it was absolutely brilliant, even if Rodriguez's performance fell short, like a ball to the warning track.

By the time his name is on the Hall of Fame ballot, in 2024 or 2025 - about the time poor Tom Hicks will make the last of his back-end payments on Rodriguez's original contract with the Rangers - there will be a whole new generation of voters. Rodriguez was talking to them on Monday as much as anybody else, basically asking them to throw out what he did in Texas like it was this week's recycling. Asking people at the same time to give him a fresh start on Opening Day. Why? Because he wants a fresh start, that's why. And Rodriguez is used to getting what he wants by now.

OK, that should be it for today.

Hank Optimistic About the Upcoming Season

From the YESNetwork.com:

Hank Steinbrenner is not guaranteeing that his New York Yankees will win the 2009 World Series. Still, the team co-chairman is optimistic heading into the start of spring training next week.

"Much more so than last year," Steinbrenner said on Thursday. "I feel real confident going into this season."

"The entire team is fired up with what we've done," Steinbrenner said.

"The American League East is by far the best division in baseball," Steinbrenner said. "The players can't be thinking, `Look how good we are on paper.' They've got to earn it in our division."

And, of course, he had to answer a question about Torre's new book:

"I haven't read it yet," Steinbrenner said. "I'll read it."

I've been wondering where Hank was.

Control of Yanks Shifts to Hal

From MLB.com:

Major League Baseball owners designated Hal Steinbrenner as control person of the New York Yankees, Commissioner Bud Selig announced on Thursday, officially ending George Steinbrenner's 35-year tenure as the Yankees' boss.

Hal Steinbrenner, the co-chairman of the team along with his older brother, Hank, will now be the liaison between the Commissioner's office and the team and the point person for the club at all future owners' meetings.

Hank will continue to remain in charge of baseball operations. Hal was named control person because he's in charge of the team's business operations.

"As I said at the meeting, I appreciate the confidence that Commissioner Selig and the rest of the owners have in me," Hal Steinbrenner said. "I realize it's a great responsibility. Needless to say, my dad is a tough act to follow. But I'm going to do it to the best of my ability and give it my all every day. I certainly won't make light of the magnitude of it."

"He's been slowing down for the last couple of years," Hal Steinbrenner said of his 78-year-old father. "For the last two years, I've been intimately involved with all departments and all aspects of the company. It's what I've been doing day-to-day. My duties really aren't going to change, and my work days really aren't going to change much.

"It's as much a procedural thing within the family, at this point."

I'm not sure if this will change anything, according to Hal it won'.t And I'm sure Hank and Hal will still be working together on many things. Either way, the right brother was chosen as the new boss.

Here's the official press release from the Yankees.