It’s the first day of Spring Training and there are certain things Yankee fans can expect: Reports about who is fat and who is skinny, uniform numbers, which new players are getting which former players’ lockers, and A-Rod.

The weight update is about CC Sabathia who told reporters he’s down to 290 lb. and that he cut Cap’n Crunch from his diet, again, just like he did in previous off-seasons. He also told reporters that his surgically cleaned-up elbow is feeling good which is positive news.

This next section of text (about numbers, lockers and Austin Romine) is mostly taken from a post I wrote earlier this morning on It’s About The Money, Stupid. I know I’m probably breaking cardinal rule of writing but I’m lazy and I apologize for plagurizing myself.

Now, as you are well aware, Yankee uniform numbers are very serious business and that certain numbers are treasured by fans. So prepare yourselves for the following news. Maybe grab a seat or take a deep breath…

Oh, I’m joking, it’s not that important but since we’re lacking any serious news – for now – I figured I’d let everyone know what’s happening down in Tampa.

This information is from Mark Feinsand of the Daily News and his tweets:

• Travis Hafner takes over Nick Swisher‘s spring locker as well as his uniform No. 33.
• With Rafael Soriano gone, Francisco Cervelli reclaims his No. 29.
• David Phelps has changed his number to 35. He reminds me of a young Mussina, so it makes sense.
• Michael Pineda, formerly No. 35, will now wear 43.
• More uni numbers: David Aardsma 34, Matt Diaz 22, Dan Johnson 27, Juan Rivera 54.

I know, I forgot that the Yankees had some of these guys too.

And for some locker news, again from Mr. Feinsand:

• Correction: Kevin Youkilis is in Swisher’s corner locker. Hafner is next to him in Eric Chavez‘s old spot.

Also, Austin Romine who will be battling Chris Stewart and Francicsco Cervelli for the starting catching job, let everyone know that his back is feeling “absolutely fantastic,” and that he would like to win that starting catching job and avoid going back down to Triple A.

And last but certainly not least, some news about A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez is not in camp because he’s rehabbing from his hip surgery in New York. Manager Joe Girardi said the most important thing is to get him healthy. Of course, there are rumblings that Alex isn’t in Florida so he isn’t a distraction to the team. I’m one of those weirdos who thinks he just had hip surgery and is recovering so he doesn’t really need to be in camp and that the people complaining about him not being there will have to find someone else to write horrible stories about.

Ahem.

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone! Except for CC Sabathia who isn’t fat anymore, well, for now…

Happy New Year, everyone.

We’re getting closer and closer to the start of Spring Training which means there should be more news emerging in the coming weeks. At least I hope so, for my sake because this offseason has been pretty boring.

Anyway, today’s news is about Austin Romine.

Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News published a story overnight in which GM Brian Cashman revealed that Austin Romine would be more than likely starting the season in Triple A Scranton which means Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart will be vying for the starting catching job.

“I expect Romine to go to Triple-A,” Cashman said. “He missed all of last year, almost . . . I don’t expect him to be our everyday catcher out of the gate. He always has the possibility of taking it, but realistically, if I were in prediction mode, I’d say Triple-A. But he has a chance to alter that.”

Of course, this makes sense. As Cashman said, Romine spent most of last year injured but hopefully the kid will impress everyone in Spring Training and have a chance to start in the Majors.

I’m not too confident with the other choices for starting catcher. We’ve seen what both Cervelli and Stewart can do which isn’t much.

Cashman also spoke about the importance of acquiring a right handed outfielder. Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Ichiro Suzuki all bat left handed.

“Obviously, we need a right-hander because we have all these outfielders who are lefthanded,” Cashman said. “You can get them through trades and free agency, but it’s a limited market and it might not define itself anytime soon.”

The Yankees signed outfielder Matt Diaz just before the New Year but are looking to add more. Scott Hairston and Delmon Young remain available but there were reports last night that the Yankees had no interest in Young.

It’s November 2, the World Series ended less than a week ago and I’m already desperate for baseball. This is really bad.

I thought the Hot Stove starting up would get me excited but it’s only just begun – so only qualifying offers and opt outs. Needless to say, I’m bored out of my mind.

And while I’m a football and basketball fan, my first love is baseball. Plus, football is only played once a week and basketball, well, I root for the New York Knicks and I shouldn’t even have to explain why that’s not very fun for me.

Then I was looking through my Google Reader for story ideas and found out that MLB Network was going to show the Arizona Fall League’s Rising Stars game this weekend. A real baseball game with prospects I have heard of! Hooray!

For us Yankee fans Mark Montgomery, Austin Romine and David Adams were all selected for the roster. And in case you haven’t seen that speed demon Billy Hamilton, a shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, he will also will also be playing on Saturday night.

Montgomery has pitched in seven games – 8.1 innings so far – and has only allowed two hits and one earned run while fanning 15 batters.

Romine has stayed healthy so far this Fall – he suffered a back injury in Spring Training and missed nearly the minor league entire season. He’s batting .273 with three doubles in 12 AFL games.

And Adams, while his average isn’t anything to write home about (.226) he has hit six doubles which leads the team.

So this will be a chance for us poor baseball deprived people to watch a real live game again and a chance for us to check out some of the Yankee prospects you may have never seen play before.

Truth be told, as excited as I am to see the Yankees prospects, I’m even more excited to see Billy Hamilton. In 82 games in 2012, Hamilton had a .323/.413/.439 line and he stole 104 bases (No, that’s not a typo). He was caught stealing 21 times. I just want to see how fast Hamilton really is and I hope he steals second, third and home in this game.

The game is Saturday at 8 p.m. on MLB Network.

Via the Lohud Yankees blog:

George Kontos has been traded to the Giants for catcher Chris Stewart who will be the backup in New York.

Francisco Cervelli has been optioned to Triple-A.

The move was made to add depth in the wake of the Austin Romine injury.

Chris Stewart, who was part of the Yankees organization in 2008 and 2009, ran out of options, Cervelli hasn’t, so the only move to make was to have Stewart be Russell Martin’s backup.

Cervelli wasn’t very happy with the decision:

“I’m disappointed with this, but that’s never going to change anything. All my life I’ve had to do things, and I’ve had to do it double, triple. If they want me to prove that I can catch in the big leagues, I’ll go and prove it, that I have to be here. … I don’t understand their reason. I think maybe you’ve got to ask Cash, or somebody else. Maybe the other guy is better than I am right now. Just play baseball, no matter where it is, and show them that I’m a big league catcher, like they say.”

Looks like Austin Romine will be on his way to the big club and Jesus Montero will be catching for Russell Martin tomorrow.

The x-rays on Martin’s injured thumb – thankfully – were negative.

Romine played the majority of the 2011 season with Double A Trenton and batted .286 with six home runs. He appeared with Triple Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for only four games.

Montero who has been DHing while up with the Yankees will most likely step in for Martin tomorrow but that could change.

Francisco Cervelli is not an option with his concussion symptoms reemerging. Marc Carig of the Star Ledger tweeted that Cervelli will be returning to New York for tests and won’t be back on road trip. And Jorge Posada, who stepped in for Martin tonight and who manager Joe Girardi described as incredible in regards to his performance tonight, will most likely be relegated to bench/DH duty.

21-year-old catcher Jesus Montero doesn’t want to return to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. He’s planning to vie for the starting catcher position. He will have to compete against former LA Dodger Russell Martin to get the spot. Yankees GM Brian Cashman stands by his statement that Russell Martin will be the starting catcher for this season. The only drawback is that Martin is still not 100% healed from a hip surgery that he had during the off-season. This means that it’s a remote possibility (provided he stays healthy until Opening Day) that Montero could unseat him as starting catcher. More than likely, however, Montero will have to compete against Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine for the backup catcher position.

According to the NY Post’s Brian Costello, Montero said “I want to be behind the plate.” He continued “I want to show everybody that I can catch with the Yankees.”

Montero’s been working out at the Yankees minor league complex for the past two weeks. He showed up two weeks earlier than he did last season. Montero’s also lost weight and has been working on his defensive skills, which are still a concern for the Yankees. Montero has come to this season with a more determined attitude because he wants to earn the starting catcher position.

“I want to be in the big leagues this year,” Montero said. “I’m working really hard. I’ve spent more time here in the cage and doing catching things. I want to be with the team this year. I want to help them to win, too. I’m working really hard here.”

The Yankees will have to decide if Montero is ready to play in the majors or if he would further benefit from more Triple-A play in Scranton. To Montero, this is not an option. “I think being in the majors would be better,” he said. “Everybody wants to be there. I’m going to try to do the best to be with the team, learn real quick and help them.”

Yankees GM Brian Cashman appreciates Montero’s desire, but he doesn’t believe that the Yankees should rush into the decision of promoting him yet:

“Montero’s a very hungry, talented player,” Cashman said. “That’s a recipe for great success. He has huge talent and he’s hungry to be successful. That will be to our benefit, and his benefit. Russell Martin’s presence here will allow for that to develop and be finished off in the proper way rather than in a rushed way.”

While Montero had a solid 2010 season, it wasn’t exactly an outstanding one. He managed to hit .289 with 21 HRs. It’s not Montero’s at bats concern the Yankees, but rather they’re concerned that he needs to clean up his defense a bit more. For his part, Montero said that he’s made some improvements.

“I did a good job last year, thank God,” Montero said. “I’ve got to work harder this year to show them that I can catch. I know that I can do it.”

On that note, I respect Montero’s enthusiasm this season and wish him luck, whatever happens.

So far Yankees GM Brian Cashman has stated that Russell Martin is his starting catcher. Meanwhile, veteran catcher Jorge Posada will have to adjust to his new position as the team’s designated hitter. Cashman also mentioned that the backup catcher position is “up for grabs.”

If Cashman believes that Martin is his starting catcher, then which guys are the potential choices for backup catcher?

Francisco Cervelli has the necessary major league level experience which places him in the position of incumbent backup catcher. During the off-season, Cervelli worked out with Robinson Cano to work on his batting technique.

Another backup possibility is Double-A catcher Austin Romine. Romine had a less-than-spectacular 2010 season. While he is a better defensive player than Montero, Romine still needs time to improve his level of play. This is particularly the case with regard to his offensive play as well. Last season, Romine hit .268, but only hit 10 HRs.

His minor league competition, Triple-A catcher Jesus Montero, is the player that many sports writers and fans salivating because of his excellent potential, especially since he’s considered #4 on the list of the Top 100 baseball prospects. As demonstrated by his 2010 season stats (.351/.396/.684), Montero’s a better hitter than Cervelli and Romine. While his defense also improved in the second half of last season, the Yankees still feel that Montero’s defense isn’t entirely up to par just yet.

That said, unlike last season, Montero’s in better shape (he lost weight) and ready to compete for a spot in the starting roster. Taking this season even more seriously, Montero showed up a week early for spring training. “I want to be behind the plate,” he said to reporters the other day. “I want to show everybody that I can catch with the Yankees.”

Like Montero, Martin also showed up a week early for spring training. Unfortunately, for Martin, he’s still recovering from hip and knee surgery, but says he will be healed up before Opening Day (March 31):

“My goal from now is until the season is to strengthen that right side of my leg,” Martin said.

Martin also told reports at the Yankees minor league complex that “I think I’ll be ready for the season, for sure.” He continued “I can’t predict the future, but I feel pretty good right now.” While Martin has struggled in his play for the past few years, he decided to adopt MMA as part of his training regimen. Martin’s hoping that this new training program will help him get back into shape while he recuperates from his surgery. He has lost 15 lbs, which brought him down from 230 to 215.

While Martin and Montero vie for the starting catcher position this season, all the sports media and fans can sit back and watch this saga unfold.