TAMPA – Whatever Derek Jeter feels regarding Alex Rodriguez’s bombshell admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs, he’s keeping it to himself, at least for now.
The Yankees shortstop refused to share his thoughts yesterday, declaring he’ll talk about it when the full team and media contingent are in Tampa next week.
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“Everybody at one time,” Jeter said. “It makes no sense to do three people today, three people tomorrow, three people the day after that. When everybody gets together, that’s when I’ll talk about it.”
The Yankees are working out at the minor league complex, but when the full squad arrives they’ll shift to the major league part. Position players report next Tuesday and are on the field the next day. Jeter said he would speak on the first day on the major league side. So his A-Rod comments presumably would occur one of those two days.
“You have to understand we have a job to do and it’s much better for me, it’s much better for the team, to address it one time and get it over with and not continue to do it day after day,” Jeter said. “If everybody was down here right now, I’d do it right now.”
Jeter added that when things are discussed daily, that’s when they become distracting.
“When people are talking about how things are a distraction, they’re a distraction when you talk about them every single day,” he said. “I’m going to address it once. I don’t want to speak for him, but I’m sure he’ll probably address you guys at some point.”
Jeter declined to reveal if he’s spoken to Rodriguez since the story broke this weekend. But he said he doesn’t think it will become a major distraction.
“Every year it’s something,” he said. “We always say the same questions pretty much every spring at some point or during the season if it’s going to be a distraction to the team. But I don’t see how it would be a distraction to the team.”