Yankees not worried they have oldest starting lineup in MLB

To the surprise of very few, the New York Yankees head into spring training with the oldest average starting lineup in Major League Baseball.  But I don't think anyone thought the gap between first and second place would have such a large discrepancy.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the average age of the Yankees starting lineup they expect to field on Opening Day is 32.9-years-old.  The Philadelphia Phillies come in at second at 30.9 — a full two years younger than the median age of the Bronx Bombers.

That's even after dropping a few years with the 34-year-old Kevin Youkilis replacing an injured 37-year-old Alex Rodriguez at third base.

Elias, and their number-crunching ilk, reports that the average age of the 30 MLB teams' Opening Day lineups across the last 10 years is 29.7. The Yankees haven't seen that number since well ... Derek Jeter had a Fade.

The Texas Rangers come in at third with an average starting lineup of 30.6-years-old while the Kansas City Royals are the babies of the bunch at No. 30 with a median age of 26.0.

The main culprits for the Yankees advanced average age are Ichiro Suzuki, 39, Jeter, 38, Travis Hafner, at 35, and Youkilis — all crucial parts of this year's team.

The additional hairs in the shower drains and ever-growing bottles of Ensure® don't seem to worry general manager Brian Cashman too much.

"I would say you are always concerned about it," he said. "But I am not concerned about it when you look at the alternative.  The alternative is I can get a younger player that isn't very good ... and he won't get hurt, but he isn't going to help."

If that's the case, then the Yankees' arms — with Mariano Rivera, 43, Andy Pettitte, 41, and Hiroki Kuroda, 38, — have years of help to spare too.