Hank Steinbrenner popped-off today and the press is grateful.
Alex Rodriguez also spoke to reporters. “Did anyone watch the Super Bowl?” he said. Rodriguez talked about losing weight. From Chad Jennings:

“Kevin Long described it as, he likes to have power, but with the freedom of a swing,” Rodriguez said this afternoon. “I think over the last several years — you’ll have to talk to K-Long a little bit more about it — but he felt there were some restrictions in my swing and some limitations. I think it affected my power.”

…“Kevin Long believes that in order for the power swing to be perfectly right, he really wants you to stroke the ball to left-center,” Rodriguez said. “We always hear right-center, and he has his reasoning behind it, and a lot of it has to do with flexibility, which I think I’ve gotten back.”

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Finally, Andrew Brackman impressed Joe Girardi today.

The New York Times covers the first Hank Steinbrenner sighting since the death of the Boss:

In his first public appearance since the death of his father, George, on July 13, Steinbrenner, 53, said that the direction of the professional franchise would not change with his father gone: winning comes first, always, as it had when George was the principal owner. He also made a not-so-daring prediction that the Yankees would make the playoffs, but he declined to discuss the future of Manager Joe Girardi, whose contract expires after the season.

“It’s always going to be the same,” Steinbrenner said in a brief meeting with reporters. “We play to win. We do what we have to do to win. We don’t make a lot of money because of revenue sharing, and we don’t shy away from paying salaries.”