TAMPA — Once Alex Rodriguez made fun of Super Bowl cameras catching Cameron Diaz stuffing his mouth with popcorn, the Yankees third baseman was very clear yesterday that he is accepting more leadership responsibilities this year than in the past.
Whether that is a result of Brian Cashman telling him to do so is staying with the Yankees GM.
“Brian talked to him in the offseason,” co-owner Hank Steinbrenner said when told that Rodriguez talked often yesterday about being a leader.
Asked to discuss what he told Rodriguez, Cashman offered a “no comment.”
“I feel that I am in more of a leadership position, a mentorship position,” Rodriguez said following the team’s second full-squad workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“I talked about early in my career I took a lot of pride in doing my early work. Now I take a lot of pride in making sure that four or five guys are out there with me.”
For the first time since 2009 hip surgery during spring training, Rodriguez has been cleared by Dr. Marc Philippon to train as a baseball player and not as a rehab patient.
“This is as healthy as I have felt over the last several years,” Rodriguez said.
“I saw Philippon in November or December and he gave me the green light to train like I usually do. The last several years it has been 60 to 70 percent rehab and 30 percent training. This year I can use spring training to get ready for baseball.”
And ready to lead by performance after two straight years of hitting 30 homers.
“I hear there are a lot of doubters out there, and that’s always fun,” said Rodriguez, who enters the season with 613 homers, 17 shy of tying Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth place on the all-time list.
“There is always room for improvement, and that starts with me. We expect to do a lot of good things, and in order to do that I have to play at an elite level, and I am ready for that challenge.”
Like Derek Jeter, Rodriguez is coming off a .270 season. That’s the lowest he hit since he batted .232 for the 1995 Mariners in 48 games.
As for Diaz shoveling the popcorn into his mouth in front of the world, Rodriguez laughed off the attention.
“Did anyone watch the Super Bowl?” Rodriguez opened his press conference with. “It was a great game.”
Asked if he received any offers to hawk popcorn, Rodriguez said, “No popcorn endorsements yet, but our lines are open.”
A report following the Super Bowl said Rodriguez was furious about the cameras catching Diaz stuffing his face.
“That was pretty humorous. I was not upset,” Rodriguez said yesterday.
“Five or six years ago I would have probably come out with a bogus statement. Who would be upset about being fed popcorn?”
Rodriguez’s body fat dropped from 12 percent to 9 percent, and he expects to play at 222 to 226 pounds. He also expects to have more flexibility, which should help in the field and at the plate.