Adrian Gonzalez Is A Swinger

Adrian Gonzalez was cleared to swing a bat today and took 20 swings at balls on a tee this morning, his first swings since having right shoulder surgery last October.

The team said that during Gonzalez's evaluation last Friday, "he was noted to have full range of motion, no tenderness, and excellent strength". Was it exciting to finally swing a bat?

Twenty swings, that's all it was. It felt good. I'll be excited when we win the World Series. ... They said four months to start swinging and today is four months plus a day so I'm on schedule. ... I didn't hold back, I took good healthy swings and I felt fine.

Gonzalez says that he would "definitely" lose in a race against David Ortiz.

I'm the slowest guy you'll find. You'll find out, trust me. When I get thrown out the first time, you'll be like, "Man, he didn't make it?"

Josh Beckett threw live batting practice on Sunday morning -- 31 pitches to minor-league infielders Drew Sutton and Oscar Tejeda. Jarrod Saltalamacchia caught the session:

You want to mix all your pitches. You're telling the hitter what's coming, so it's not a matter of trying to fool anybody ... It's just working on stuff, staying crisp and keeping the ball down.

Tim Wakefield threw live batting practice to Carl Crawford. Jason Varitek was catching:

[Crawford] was wondering, "Does Wake know he's making it go this way, that way, up, down?" I was like, "No." (laughing) That was their perception when they hit off him — he's trying to make it go towards his feet, he's trying to make it go away from him. If he did, he should let us know.

Varitek says he feels great (but everyone says that) and believes he can play into his 40s (he turns 39 on April 11).

If my body holds up and I'm able to do the things I feel I can still do then I'll play as long as I can. ... [T]he work I've done 10-15 years ago, this is when it's starting to show and pay off. It's put my body in position to handle different things.

Leslie Eddins has been working full-time as Varitek's trainer, nutritionist and personal assistant for the last five years.

I'm in the cage with him every year and I've never seen him swing the bat like he's swinging it now. He's comfortable from both sides. I'm jumping out of the way every time he swings, and I'm behind the cage.

Back in 2003, Daniel Bard was a highly-touted high school pitcher, but was leaning towards accepting a scholarship offer from the University of North Carolina. So teams were wary of wasting a draft pick on him. Bard was finally selected by the Yankees in the 20th round.

I think I told them I wanted $2 million, and if it happens, great. They never even made an offer.

John Lackey says he found out about the Crawford signing from Jon Lester.

He texted me, "We don't have to face Carl any more." It was pretty cool.

Over in Yankeeland, Hank Steinbrenner keeps yapping. He says this year's team has "a new hunger", i.e., "what it takes to win":

In '09 I saw it. ... Sometimes they celebrated a little too much last year. Some of the players too busy building mansions and concentrating on other things and not concentrating on winning.

Hank said he was "not singling anybody out", but the only Yankee building a "mansion" is Derek Jeter -- though in fairness to the Cap'n, it's not like he was flying to Florida on off-days and actually hammering nails or installing a sink.

Steinbrenner also complained about the $130 million the Yankees had to kick into baseball's revenue sharing and luxury tax system last year. "We've got to do a little something about that ... Socialism, communism, whatever you want do call it, is never the answer."

It's good to know Hank is consistent. Back in 2008, he said: "It's a socialist system, and I don't agree with it. ... Is it even American? I'd argue no ..."