Spring Training Notes 2/15/13: Youkilis, Chamberlain, Pineda

When your a famous ball player (or a famous anything) one of the main rules of stardom is not to search yourself on the internet to prevent what people are saying about you. It could be spiteful, it could be hurtful, it could be someone taking something you said completely out of context and publishing it as if you're a bad person. Option number three happened to Kevin Youkilis, the brand new Yankees third baseman. Youkilis yesterday made a comment about how he will always be a "Red Sock." The next thing he knew, he was being written about in every gigantic publication from the New York Daily News to ESPN. After reading the ESPN article last night, Youkilis cleared the air for reporters as he discussed what he actually meant by his comment.

"The whole thing for me, I look at it, when I was saying it, it was more like a baseball card." Youkilis said. "When you look at it, there's going to be nine seasons or whatever (with the Red Sox) and that's why I said it. But in context of what I said, if you read it as 'I'm always a Red Sock,' it looks bad. But it's not that way. I'm a Yankee today, and I'm excited. I'm proud to be a Yankee, and I'm proud for Opening Day and playing against the team that I spent all those seasons with. Trust me, if you know my personality and know who I am, it doesn't matter what team's along the way. I want to beat everyone. I want to beat the Red Sox because I want to start out with a win at Yankee Stadium."

Not only did Kevin Youkilis address the media about his comments but he also made nice with Joba Chamberlain, and it looks like the two became buddies. Their first conversation of the spring? They talked about mustaches. Chamberlain is growing out a mustache and wants Youkilis to do the same. Today the two new teammates gave each other a handshake.

"Tomorrow we'll hug." Youkilis said.

-- Michael Pineda had a side session earlier this morning and threw 25 pitches (all of them fastballs). He said he felt good and he's still on track to return in June.

-- Do you guys remember this pitcher named Cesar Cabral, who was a Rule 5 draft pick, slated to take a bullpen spot last season, only to hurt his elbow forcing the spot to go to Clay Rapada instead? Well he threw a 25 fastball side as well, and could be scheduled to return in May.

-- The Yankees writers have all been following the Washington Nationals camp, waiting to see how Rafael Soriano is doing adjusting to his new team. The problem is...he never showed up to camp, prompting another edition of "Where In The World Is Rafael Soriano." The answer? The Dominican Republic having a visa issue. Nationals say that he should be in camp over the weekend, which would give everyone a chance to continue to keep an eye on him.

-- And some somber news for another former Yankee. Cleveland Indians first baseman Nick Swisher left the teams workouts to attend his mothers funeral in Ohio. Condolences go out to Nick Swisher and his family.

-- And finally, do you plan on watching a Spring Training game this season but don't know what channel its on? Yesterday, I made the 2013 Spring Training schedule for the Yankees, including the channels for which game will be broadcast. If you have (or are planning to get) MLB.TV 2013, then you're in luck since you'll get to see most of the games this Spring. Here's the complete list of games, times and channels.