TAMPA, FLA -- All-star first-baseman Mark Teixeira's days in New York may be numbered. Teixeira arrived at the first day of Spring Training at the George Steinbrenner complex in Tampa and promptly told reporters that these would be his final eight years in pinstripes.
"I'm glad to be back on the field, but it's hard not to feel the tension in the air. It seems like my contract situation is on everyone's mind. I don't want to be a distraction, so I just want to address the issue and clear the air," an aging Teixeira told a group of reporters on the field. "These are my last eight years as a Yankee and I just want to have fun and enjoy it while it lasts."
Teixeira, 30, will turn 38 in the final year of his contract with the Yankees and there is question of what his plans are beyond that.
"You can't take everything Tex says seriously," Yankees skipper Girardi said in defense of the slugger at the end of the practice. "That's just Mark being Mark."
