Camp sights: Concerns for the Yankees this spring

TAMPA – One of the standard spring training questions is how much competition exists for a team's roster spots.

The good teams are proud to say, "We're pretty set," while managers of the more mediocre clubs usually spin their uncertainty over who can handle a particular job with, "I love to have some competition. I think that's a good thing."

Biggest competition in Yankees camp this year?

It's which roster spot should cause the most concern.

The Yankees could tell you right now, barring injuries, how they see all but maybe one bench job and a bullpen spot or two lining up. But half or more of the "sure-thing" jobs come with significant questions.

Take the day Alex Rodriguez attracted all the attention for his spring debut. Obviously, what remains of his ability will be one of the most scrutinized issues all spring – all season for that matter.

But on that same day:

-- Didi Gregorius smiled broadly through all those questions about his first day on the field as Derek Jeter's successor at shortstop.

-- Andrew Miller impressed manager Joe Girardi in his bid to graduate from set-up man deluxe in Baltimore to Yankees closer, though massive fireballer Dellin Betances will make his case to take the job after just 97 innings of major league experience. Could it be either, neither or both?

-- First baseman Mark Teixeira, a more svelte version on a gluten-free diet with significantly reduced body fat, made his first start after the worst two years of his career.

-- Stephen Drew, first choice to start at second base after playing all but 36 of his previous 1,001 games at shortstop, muffed the first play of the game and admittedly was still getting comfortable with the different angles at a different position.

-- Right fielder Carlos Beltran reported himself still a day or two away as the 37-year-old recovers from surgery to remove the bone spurs in his elbow that plagued him much of last season.

-- And pitcher Masahiro Tanaka threw a bullpen session that was a careful step in his bid to pitch this season with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament – you know, the one they replace in Tommy John surgery.

"I think I'm ready," Tanaka said through his interpreter.

Yankees Universe pauses: There's the uncertainty that rises above the others.

It doesn't even get to whether, in the same rotation, CC Sabathia can rebound from the worst year of his career. Or if an apparently healthy Michael Pineda has regained the consistency and stamina to provide more than year's 76 stellar innings.

Tanaka, with the seven-year, $155 million contract he signed before last season, is the Yankees one legitimate chance for a dominant ace at the top of the rotation. He was 11-1 with a 1.99 earned run average in mid-June last year.

He reported elbow pain after July start in Cleveland, but counting the three outings before that one through the two he made in a September bid to check the progress of his ongoing rehab project, he was 2-4 with a 4.91 ERA.

Tanaka says he's been building his strength, continuing the treatment that includes platelet-rich plasma injections and expects to start a spring game next week.

If this doesn't work, especially if it takes a bit longer to decide he's not beating the odds that catch up to most pitchers trying to rehab a partial tear, Tanaka could be nearly halfway through the contract before he pitches again.

And the Yankees would be halfway – at least – to some answers they don't want to hear.

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JETER WHO?

The Yankees' myriad issues are a blessing to Didi Gregorius – or is it gregarious?

With a smile bigger than the shoes he has to fill, the 25-year-old with the .243 career batting average has cruised through all the obvious questions about replacing the retired Jeter, questions that have been overshadowed by everything from A-Rod's return to how many numbers are too many to retire (Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams this summer).

Gregorius says he hasn't heard Jeter's name invoked yet from fans – one April mini-slump should take care of that -- but regardless of how close he comes to emulating Jeter's play, he's nailed No. 2's knack for saying the right things.

"Yes, I do," Gregorius said in a manner that bubbled with exclamation marks when asked if he's figuring out it can be special to wear the Yankees pinstripes.

"It was amazing," he says of his first "home" game of the spring. "The fans are here to support our team, so it was really good. It was a real great feeling for me to wear the pinstripes and go out there for the first time."

As for the scrutiny, "I think (the fans) have their eyes on everybody, because it's a team," Gregorius says. "It's not one player. I'm not pitching. I'm not doing all those positions. They've got their eyes on everybody that's on the team."

Absolutely Jeter-esque.

GALLERY: SCENES FROM SPRING TRAINING

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PROSPECT STOKED WITH LOCKER

There actually are calm corners of the Yankees clubhouse. Along the wall between the entrance to the players' lunch room and the entrance to the showers are a handful of lockers where jersey numbers usually reserved for football linemen hang – and that's has nothing to do with the rate the franchise is taking numbers out of circulation.

Greg Bird, a first baseman, chuckles about getting No. 95 but was thrilled that he got a corner locker. Those are big deals in clubhouses, usually reserved for the team's elder statesmen, but if you're going to put eight rookies on one wall, somebody has to get the end of the row – especially the one Bird has that's not next to the shower.

"Maybe I got a little lucky with the corner," says Bird, a 22-year-old lefty with power who's already at Class AA and could match up nicely with Teixeira's contract ending at age 36 after the 2016 season. "I'll take a corner. It's quiet."

So's Bird, doing his best sponge imitation.

"It's awesome," he says. "There are so many good players here. I'll sit back and watch. When they're in the cage and stuff, I'll go and just sit and watch. I don't say much. I'll just go and see what they're doing."

Bird says one of the adjustments as a No. 95 in spring training is that one at-bat you'll often get late in a game after regulars come out.

He was fortunate enough to start the first game of the spring – on the road, where most front-liners seldom go – and had a single and a double.

A few lockers away is outfielder Tyler Austin, in a similar situation except that his first start attracted throngs of media members.

"I'm excited about it, it's a great opportunity," said the 23-year-old, laughing about the media frenzy that actually had something to do with that Rodriguez fellow. "I've been here the couple of years now. It's different here for sure. It's fun to be a part of it to learn what goes on in here. You have to pay attention to the surroundings and understand it."

Austin (No. 79 if you're keeping track) was 0-for-2 in his start but got one of those one-swing opportunities the next day at Bradenton, Fla.

He hit a massive eight-inning homer for a 2-1 victory against the Pirates, threw out a runner at the plate and narrowly missed a spectacular catch with a diving attempt that drew blood along his left side – before the homer.

Those are the leave-an-impression moments the guys with the high numbers hope for. Putting in a good work every day certainly makes points with coaches but there's no matching when the manager says, as Girardi did after Austin's homer, "Pretty impressive. Not sure where it landed, but cars probably took a little damage. I'd ask for my money back if I parked back there."