Yankees' $67 million rotation warms up

TAMPA, Fla. - Boston's biggest nightmare was stretched across five mounds in the right-field bullpen at Legends Field: the $67 million rotation.

• Photos

Mike Mussina, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson pitched simultaneously Thursday morning as New York Yankees manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre watched their team's first workout of the year.

Last year, starting pitching led by Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez boosted Boston to its first World Series title since 1918 and sunk the Yankees in Game 7 of the AL championship series. New York responded by signing Pavano and Wright, and acquiring Johnson from Arizona.

"I'm just hoping that they'll let me in a card game or something around here," said Wright, whose $7 million salary makes him the rotation pauper. "I don't know what the buy-ins might be, but I might have to take out some money out of my house or something."

Mussina makes $19 million this year, Johnson $16.5 million, Brown $15.7 million and Pavano $9 million. (The figures included prorated shares of signing bonuses for Mussina and Brown and for Johnson's personal-services contract from his original deal with Arizona).

"Just seeing how the other side lives," said Pavano, like Wright a little awe-struck on his first day.

Catcher Jorge Posada, who will have to break in the three newcomers, said he'll invite them out to dinner.

"I'll pay," he said.

They throw hard and stand tall.

Johnson is 6-foot-10, Pavano 6-5, Brown 6-4 and Mussina and Wright 6-2. It's been a long time since Wright was the shortest player around.

"Not since I was probably 11," he said. "I've met Randy a couple of times before, but I didn't remember him being 8 feet tall."

Mussina pitched on the one side of the bullpen, Johnson on the other. Posada caught the Big Unit.

"I didn't fall on my face, didn't embarrass myself. Didn't hurt anybody or anything," Johnson said. "Today felt like my first day at school."

Mussina, who came to the Yankees from Baltimore after the 2000 season, said adjusting is a process that took half a year for him.

"Mass media and high expectations, those are the two things you've got to get accustomed to," he said.

Johnson, who wore back and knee braces, was at ease. He threw only fastballs, working on regaining arm strength.

"I'm not overwhelmed. I was initially," he said. "Now, I'm in my surroundings. This is my domain, if you will. I'm comfortable on the mound. I'm comfortable in this environment, This is what I do for a living, and I've been doing it for a long time."

Brown, bothered by back pain for most of last year, had planned to throw off flat ground but changed his mind and joined the others.

"When I looked around at the area in front of the mound it was wet. It was easier to get on the mound and do it," he said.

Stottlemyre thought Brown's mechanics were much more sound than last year and had better body language.

"It actually made me smile," Stottlemyre said.

For the Yankees, the big question is whether the group that pitched Thursday will be starting games during the season or spending time on the disabled list. Brown's back and Mussina's elbow caused them to miss time last year.

Johnson, the lone left-hander, is 41. Brown turns 40 next month and Mussina is 36. Pavano and Wright, both 29, are the closest to youth on a pitching staff that likely will be the oldest in the major leagues.

Last year, the Yankees entered spring training after losing Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and David Wells. Their replacements - Brown, Javier Vazquez and Jon Lieber - struggled at various points in the season.

Torre felt more comfortable with his staff this year than a year ago because of "the numbers of starters and the fact that we have a couple of them in their 20s, which is unusual. The Yankees have been in the playoffs 10 years in a row and here they have three new starters. That's not very common for a club that's had success."

He's not worried about injuries to a group that is baseball's version of the Social Security set, citing reliever Tanyon Sturtze as a safety net. For the 64-year-old Torre, they all must seem to be young.

"I don't concern myself with how old somebody is," he said. "We had Wells and Clemens here, you had David Cone. You had people who were getting up there in age."

Stottlemyre recounted how Yankees coach Rob Thomson buzzed about Johnson on Wednesday, saying Thomson told him: "The ball just jumps on you playing catch."

Johnson, showing off more of the sense of humor he displayed Wednesday, even joked about owner George Steinbrenner.

"We were supposed to do lunch," the Big Unit said, "but I couldn't make it."