Yankees: Playing Catch Up And Some Weekend Bits And Pieces

The Yankees organization has had an eventful first week of the new season. Here are some highlights and tidbits you may have missed.

Yankees Brass Shoot Down A Tanaka Report

The Yankees needed to deal with a report that surfaced in the New York Daily News that the team will not pursue Masahiro Tanaka if he exercises the opt-out clause in his contract following the 2017 season. Both Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman, in separate comments, were quick to respond to what may have been a pre-negotiations strategy by Tanaka’s agent, Casey Close, to lock up a deal now.

Cashman reportedly told SNY-TV:

“There is nothing to hold over our heads because we haven’t negotiated it,” Cashman told The Post. “I…