Spring training News and notes

February 25, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Yankees: Alex Rodriguez is prepared for the worst when he plays in the Yankees’ spring training opener today. The game against Toronto at Dunedin will be his first since admitting that he used a banned substance while playing for Texas from 2001-3. He’s used to playing before hostile fans. “I’ve had good practice the last eight years,” Rodriguez said Tuesday. “No expectations. Hopefully I get three good at-bats and get some good running in.” Rodriguez expects to meet soon with investigators from Major League Baseball, which wants to speak with him before he joins the Dominican Republic for the World Baseball Classic. The Dominicans start workouts Monday. Shortstop Derek Jeter, who didn’t run the previous two days because of right hamstring soreness, planned to play today.

Giants: Barry Bonds’ personal trainer is likely to tell a federal judge on Friday that he has no plans to testify at the home run king’s perjury trial. Greg Anderson had been scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Susan Illston today to tell her whether he would break his silence. The hearing was postponed until Friday at the request of Anderson’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, who is busy with another trial. The judge granted the request Tuesday. Anderson has already spent a year in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury about his relationship with Bonds. Geragos said he believes the government wants to put Anderson in custody again. Anderson is key to the government’s case as it tries to prove Bonds lied to a grand jury investigating steroid use by athletes. Prosecutors said the trainer can directly link Bonds to three positive drug tests and other evidence collected during a September 2003 raid at the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which was at the center of the steroids probe.

Cubs: Ryan Dempster’s switch was Chicago’s gain last season. The closer-turned-starter won 17 games, made the All-Star squad and helped his team capture a division title. But he struggled in the playoff opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, throwing 109 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. That 7-2 loss at Wrigley Field, where Dempster had fashioned a 14-3 record in the regular season, got the Cubs off to a bad start before they were swept away. The quick ouster ran their drought without a World Series winner to 100 years. “You’re never going to forget it, never not remember what happened, but at the same time, it just depends on how you handle it. You use it. Do you let it bother you and get you down or do you use it as something motivating?” Dempster said. “There will be questions about it all year, but it is a new year and that’s the nice part.”

Associated Press