The New York Yankees got a welcomed surprise when Alex Rodriguez reported early for spring training in Tampa. Naturally the third baseman's presence escalated the media presence at facilities as many wonder where Rodriguez is in terms of health after a year suspension with the league. Being asked about everything from his position competition to the loyalty of the fanbase, Rodriguez simply said he was excited to get started on just playing baseball.
"It's always an adventure," Rodriguez said, via ESPN.com. "The first day is definitely going to be a little nervous, excited. There will be energy in the building, that's for sure. Right now I'm just focused on making this team. Obviously it was a rough year, but I'm very excited that's behind me and I have a chance to hopefully make this team."
Rodriguez has three years and $61 million remaining on his contract with the New York Yankees, but he is right to question his place on the team. During the offseason, the Yankees made moves to build past Rodriguez when they signed Chase Headley to a four-year contract along with promising him the starting role. According to Headley, all is good between he and Rodriguez who have talked since his arrival to the Yankees. General manager Brian Cashman confirmed that Rodriguez would be battling for at-bats as he can no longer be relied upon to be an every-day player.
"From my end it's going to be, he's going to show up like everyone else," Cashman said. "It's different from [the media's] end. Obviously, he'll be the focus you guys will want to get access to. But from a baseball operations standpoint, he'll be coming in with everybody else. He'll be in his hitting group, and he'll be in his fielding group, and stretching and all that stuff on the conditioning side of it. He'll be treated like any other player."
Rodriguez insists that he is healthy along with several other Yankees players including Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova. Manager Joe Girardi believes Tanaka can avoiding surgery and will be ready to play when the season starts while Nova could be available much sooner than expected. That has put the Yankees off of potential pitching trades as they are confident depth makes up for the fact they did not sign Max Scherzer, Jon Lester or James Shields.
