A year ago, the Yankees couldn’t escape Alex Rodriguez’s shadow.
Whether it was his involvement in the Biogenesis investigation and ensuing suspension and appeal, his rehab from hip surgery or his midseason return, the third baseman was a seemingly never-ending distraction.
That included Opening Day, when Rodriguez declined to be included in pregame introductions on the field.
This season, he has no such decisions to make and to listen to the 2014 Yankees, the suspended third baseman isn’t at the front of everyone’s mind.
When asked in Houston if he had “spoken to Alex recently,” CC Sabathia said, “Who?”
It was an honest — and understandable — answer, since this team has its own concerns and has almost grown accustomed to being without Rodriguez, who wasn’t around for much of last season recovering from hip surgery and is banned from playing this entire season and playoffs after appealing Major League Baseball’s suspension following the conclusion of the Biogenesis investigation and getting his 211-game ban reduced.
“Since we missed him so much last year, it hasn’t been that awkward,” Sabathia said. “You just keep going on. I mean, we didn’t have [Derek] Jeter for most of last year and we dealt with it. You miss a guy like that, but you find a way to keep going. There’s nothing else you can do about it.”
Jeter and manager Joe Girardi were two members of the organization who said they had kept in touch with Rodriguez since an arbitrator gave him the year-long ban, but both declined to discuss what they discussed.When asked in Houston if he had “spoken to Alex recently,” CC Sabathia said, “Who?”
General manager Brian Cashman said he hadn’t spoken with Rodriguez and added he was “focused on this team and moving forward.”
“Once you get into the thick of things, you tend to focus on what’s in front of you,” Mark Teixeira said.
As for Jeter and Girardi, they each likened Rodriguez’s absence to that of former teammates who have retired.
“It’s the same thing as with Jorge [Posada] or Andy [Pettitte],” the manager said. “You’re used to seeing them every day and it’s different when they’re not around. It’s just weird.”
The main difference, of course, is that both Posada and Pettitte were in Tampa during spring training and will be in The Bronx Monday and the team saw Rivera when the Yankees played in Panama.
Rodriguez has kept a low profile in recent months and his spokesman said he intended to keep it that way. Last year, Ryan Braun visited his teammates at Miller Park while serving his 65-game suspension for his Biogenesis ties, but Rodriguez so far has no plans to do the same thing with the Yankees.
His most memorable moment of last season’s opener came during an odd, hastily arranged press conference in front of the Yankees clubhouse that day, when Rodriguez said, “I don’t need to be introduced to feel like a part of this team. I’ll tell you what. When I get introduced, I want to be on the field and not look back.”