Saturday in the Park

It's been raining for most of the day down in Tampa, so the Yankees didn't get out on the field. Instead some pitchers threw side sessions and several hitters took indoor batting practice, resulting in a very light day. Still plenty of links.

Alex Rodriguez was involved in a minor car accident yesterday. His $400,000 Maybach was involved too, ouch. Thankfully, everyone is OK.

The Yankees have set their spring rotation. The opener on March 3rd will feature Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves on the mound - further confirming that all three are a big part of the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain will pitch on March 5th against Tampa Bay.

Joe Girardi is planning another team outing for Tuesday. Last spring, the manager arranged a surprise team trip to a pool hall and it served as great bonding session for the players. No word yet on where they'll go this year, but I think it's a great idea to keep this going. There's also a note in there about Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner - Girardi plans on playing them in both left and center during the exhibition season in order to figure out the best alignment.

The Daily News has a video of the players participating in yesterday's photo day. It's a nice HD quality video with some good comments from players like Nick Swisher and A.J. Burnett.

Mark Feinsand did a write up on the Chamberlain vs Hughes competition. Whoever wins out of the five contestants, it will be well deserved. Joel Sherman notes that the competition doesn't truly start until the exhibition games begin.

I love LoHud's new "Five Questions" series, where Chad Jennings interviews some of the new faces in camp. He recently spoke with Christian Garcia. The first part in the series was with David Winfree.

Chan Ho Park has still not arrived in camp, but he's expected to show up later today and be in uniform tomorrow. He's only 10 days behind all the other pitchers.

MLB.com takes an in-depth look at Nick Johnson and his adjustment to being a full-time DH. This is normally a tough transition for every day players to make, but Johnson's health concerns make the move logical.

Here's a very detailed LoHud notes from Saturday.