In honor of Valentine’s Day, today’s news is powered by this video (don’t worry, there’s no sex :-)):

• Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports on the Yanks’ first day or camp down in Florida, including this chuckle:

Noted extrovert Joba Chamberlain was already in midseason form, heading for the locker of the big man on campus and trying on CC Sabathia’s size 56 pinstriped jersey.

[My take: Brett Garder could use it for a tent.]

• Here’s a photo to make you happy … C-MW on the mound.
• Over at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark offers the results of a survey regarding best and worst off-season moves.  The Yankees figure prominently in the “best” categories.
• At BP.com, Kevin Goldstein is out with his annual listing of the “Top 100 Prospects”.   Jesus Montero is one of only two Yankees to make the list, at #38.  Austin Jackson (#46) is the other.
• Also at BP.com, Marc Normandin lists the top fantasy second basemen for ’09.  Robby Cano comes in at #14.
• The Yanks signed Brett Tomko to a minor league deal, writes Tyler Kepner.

[My take: Fun fact … his name anagrams to BOTTOM TREK, which sort of describes this signing.]

• In PeteAbe’s reporting of the Tomko signing, he includes this A-Rod news:

Meanwhile, in an incredible case of bad timing, the University of Miami named its baseball field after Alex Rodriguez this evening. A-Rod donated $3.9 million to refurbish the facility. He had planned to attend Miami before signing with Seattle out of high school.

The stadium is now called Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. How a park can be at a field, I’m not quite sure. But for $3.9 million, it doesn’t really matter.

[My take: Any truth to the rumor that Alex is now claiming he didn’t know exactly what he was putting his money towards (a park or a field), and that he’s sorry and remorseful and ready to move on?]

• PeteAbe also has the latest on the media circus that will greet A-Rod upon his arrival:

The Yankees were going to have A-Rod met (sic) the press on Tuesday in the dugout to try and make it more informal. But expect a full-fledged press conference instead. The main reason? Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte want to attend. Having Those With Rings on hand will provide support, both real and symbolic.

[My take: Break out the tub of popcorn and the “saying all the right things” detector … its gonna be a doozy.  Oy …. sigh.]

• Finally from Pete, some interesting news regarding how Pettitte got through the end of the 2008 season:

Andy Pettitte said today “he needed some help from the trainer” to make his final 10 starts last season. That’s baseball-player speak for cortisone shots.

“My shoulder, for whatever reason, just broke down,” Pettitte said. With the Yankees in contention, he kept taking the ball. …

Pettitte said he focused on strengthening his shoulder this winter and that several examinations revealed no structural damage.

• Another sad turn in the life of Jim Leyritz.
• YESNetwork is in the midst of counting down their top 25 moments in Yankee Stadium history.

[poll id=”11″]

• Happy 24th birthday to Tyler Clippard.  Clippard had a homer-surrendering cup of coffee with the Bombers in ’07, before being traded to the Nats for Jonathan Albaladejo.
• Brad “Uncle Albert/Admiral” Halsey turns 28 today.  Halsey made seven lackluster starts for the Yanks in ’04, before being included in the package to Arizona for Randy Johnson.
• Happy 34th birthday to Damaso Marte.
• Kelly Stinnett, one of the “Posada non grata”s (patent pending) over the last few years, turns 39.

And finally … today I’ll be attending the SABR Casey Stengel chapter gathering in NYC.  After Todd Drew passed away last month, I noticed he was an SABR member and a member of this chapter.  I wrote to chapter president Evelyn Begley and mentioned Todd’s passing, and asked if maybe someone could mention it during their usual “Tributes and Obits” portion of the program.  She suggested that I might I want to say something about Todd.  So … I printed up 100 copies of his Yankee Stadium memory, and may just read it aloud for the group.  I hope I make Todd proud.  I miss him.

Til Monday …