Just another perfect sunny day here in Tampa. This spring has not been Florida-like. It has not been extremely hot, most days have seen crystal blue skies and a comfortable breeze, much more like Cactus League weather than Grapefruit League weather.

The Yankee hitters are ready to head north. Players are anxious to get out of town and that is a clear sign spring training is nearing its end.

There was a sign in the clubhouse saying the equipment truck is making its way back north soon so the clubhouse workers are busy boxing up gear. Today is an off-day, a day for the players to recharge and for those with young children to head to Disney World.

Johnny Damon is itching for the real season to begin as is his good buddy Jason Giambi. Giambi is more relaxed now that he is partnered up with Damon for the second straight spring and as I wrote in Tuesday’s Post, their imprint is on the team.

These are not your older brother’s Yankees. This is a looser group and that is because of Damon and the atmosphere created by Brian Cashman, now that he is completely in charge.

For the Yankees to succeed this year, though, they are going to need help from their young pitchers; the Yankees need to call up Phil Hughes and others to get them through some tough times.

Talking to scouts they are impressed by Jeff Karstens, his approach to the game. “And he hasn’t really broken out his changeup yet,’’ one scout told me. Lefty help in the bullpen is a major issue, too.

Damon told me the other day, the Yankees have “the best team’’ in baseball and that was the Post’s Back Page on Tuesday.

As expected that quote made its way to the Red Sox camp quite quickly – yes, you can buy the Post nearly everywhere in Florida — and David Ortiz was asked about Damon’s comment.

To his credit, Ortiz offered this honest response to the Boston Herald, saying the Yankees once again are the team to beat. “It’s always like that,’’ Big Papi said. “Every year is like that. They are the team to beat. They are the ones winning the division every year, so that’s the truth.’’

The Red Sox have some issues these final days of spring training. With Mike Timlin on the disabled list, they still don’t know who their closer is going to be at the start of the season.

During the winter I heard rumblings the Red Sox would miss hitting coach Ron Jackson, who was replaced by Dave Magadan. Oritz is struggling at the plate, batting under .200, Jason Varitek is hitting under .100 and young second baseman Dustin Pedroia still can’t find his way and is batting .206. But all that can turn around over night. Spring statistics are useless for the most part.

The bigger question is can the Red Sox get back to their 2004 form before the Yankees get back to their 2000 form. Right now, like Damon said, the Yankees look like the better team.