Girardi and Yankees file a protest about ESPN dugout camera: Report

Joe Girardi believes ESPN was out of line and took it out on the mobile camera the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" network had perched on the dugout railing during Wednesday night's game against the Red Sox.

After Michael Pineda was ejected for having pine tar on his neck, the camera swung around and focused in the tunnel. There, Pineda was engaged in a discussion with trainer Steve Donohue and pitching coach Larry Rothschild. A peeved Girardi swatted at the prying camera to turn it back around.

After being accused of trying to damage the camera, the Yankees formally protested the invasion of privacy to MLB and ESPN.

"That camera's purpose is for the field and the dugout, not shooting up into the tunnel for private situations," GM Brian Cashman said.

"I think MLB is going to have a problem with ESPN going into the tunnel," Girardi said. "I didn't break the camera. I just kept it from going into the tunnel. You guys are acting like I ripped it apart."

Girardi said he'd be upset if he was disciplined for touching the camera.

"If I'm going to get fined for that, I'll have a real problem with that," he said. "If I really was going to tear up the camera, I would have tore it up. I was just trying to get it from being in the tunnel."

Yankees' Pineda has car window smashed by home run ball

It's too early to know if the trade for Michael Pineda is a bust or not for the New York Yankees but you can definitely call one window of the big righthander's car broken.

Pineda, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and is scheduled to pitch Monday in an extended spring game, came out yesterday after practice and discovered a batting practice home run ball crashed through the back side window on the passenger side of his white SUV.

“The ball is still in the car,’’ Pineda said of the blast from one of the Yankees minor leaguers. “I don’t know who hit the ball.’’

As for his shoulder, Pineda said he feels great.

“I’m really happy. I don’t think I will be in [extended spring] long because I’m feeling good, working hard,’’ Pineda, who has hit 95 on the radar gun during his last session, said.

He then drove off, saying he was going to get the window repaired. If it was only so easy to do that for his shoulder.

Mediocre AL West Means King Felix Won't Be Going To Yankees...Or Anywhere

The New York Yankees have been drooling all over Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez for three years.  Rumors circulating about the Yankees swiping King Felix from the Mariners are just that--idle talk.  New York has a better chance of putting Keith Hernandez in pinstripes this season.

Every summer, while the Mariners wallowed in last place and New York chased another playoff spot, the whispers about the Yankees getting Hernandez before the July 31 trading deadline got louder.  This year the Mariners will put a gag on it.

Unlike last year, when the hit-challenged Mariners were going through the motions by June, red hot Seattle now finds itself in the midst of a division race and no need to unload their ace.

The Mariners have won nine of their last 10 games and are tangled up in the wide-open AL West race which separates all four teams by only 2 games.  

Hernandez, the 25 year-old righthander, is one of the most valuable commodities in the majors and there isn't one team that wouldn't want him.  Once a team has an arm like his, you don't let it go.