TAMPA — Mark Teixeira has only one year of Yankees experience, but he is familiar with the “Win Every Year” mantra that smothers the team’s universe.
Asked why complacency won’t be a problem with the defending World Series champs, the switch-hitting first baseman answered quickly.
“Because we are the Yankees,” said Teixeira, who will join the rest of the club in the first full-squad workout today at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
“If you get complacent it’s going to be a tough year for you. When you taste that championship, it makes you want it even more. We feel we are just as capable of defending our championship as we were winning it last year.”
While admitting losing Johnny Damon’s bat at the top of the order will be “tough,” the No. 3 hitter is confident that Curtis Granderson, who essentially replaces Damon, and Nick Johnson, who takes over at DH for Hideki Matsui, will produce.
“The guys we brought in are going to do just as good a job as the guys who left,” said Teixeira, who admitted he didn’t know who will hit in front of him.
* Joe Girardi‘s message to his club today will be simple.
“To me, we start over,” Girardi said of what his words will be this morning. “There was a good feeling in that clubhouse and we need to go back and get that good feeling. We have to work at it.”
* Robinson Cano feels there is one area to improve upon after he rebounded from a disappointing 2008 when he batted .271 by hitting .320 a year ago: being better in the clutch.
“One of the things I have to work on is being more patient,” said the free-swinging Cano, who hit a paltry .207 (38-for-184) with runners in scoring position last year. He is a career .256 hitter in the clutch. “I am an aggressive hitter but I need to be more patient.”
* Andy Pettitte threw his first bullpen session of camp yesterday, and the slow progression is part of a plan Girardi gave to Pettitte in December.
“Joe and (pitching coach) Dave (Eiland) wanted me to push things back,” said Pettitte, who logged 194 2/3 regular innings and 30 2/3 more in the postseason. “I usually start (throwing) Jan. 1, but I didn’t this year until Jan. 16.”
