--3B Alex Rodriguez is at least getting closer to getting back on the field for the Yankees while going through all his off-the-field controversy. Rodriguez played five innings in the field during an extended spring training game in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday and told reporters he felt good. He might not feel as good Monday, when Selena Roberts' book "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez" is released. Along with reporting on his admitted steroid use, Roberts also claims though unnamed sources that Rodriguez tipped opposing hitters to pitchers in the hopes they would do the same for him while in Texas and may have used steroids as early as high school. Major League Baseball is investigating the timeline of Rodriguez's performance-enhancing drug use, according to the New York Times.
--LHP Damaso Marte was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a shoulder problem that had bothered him since the Red Sox series the previous week. Marte had not appeared in any games and manager Joe Girardi told reporters the injury is basically "the same" as the one he suffered during the World Baseball Classic. "He has a weakness and some tendinitis and... he's just not right," Girardi said. The manager attributed Marte's reoccurring shoulder problems to getting "fatigued last year because he was stretched out" but hoped the problem could be remedied without an operation. "We don't think it's a surgery thing; we think it's a strengthening thing," Girardi said. RHP Anthony Claggett was called up to take Marte's spot. --RHP Chien-Ming Wang threw four shutout innings in an extended spring training game on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. Wang, who is on the disabled list due to hip problems after getting off to a horrid start that included a 34.50 ERA, is expected to pitch every five days to strengthen the area. The club has not indicated when he will return.
BY THE NUMBERS: 30th -- Where the Yankees' star-studded pitching staff -- and its 5.93 team ERA -- ranked out of 30 teams after the season's first 24 games.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I don't want this Alex thing to be a target. I have some issues with it. That it's interesting how the book date got moved up now. And I get tired of answering these questions." -- Joe Girardi, on "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez" which was released on May 4, shortly before Rodriguez's expected return to the Yankees.
