Yankees manager Joe Girardi met with the media Friday in Tampa as the team begins its spring training stint.
There are many questions facing Girardi and the 2015 New York Yankees. There's plenty of new players, a pitching rotation coming back from several injuries, some aging veterans who are expected to contribute, no Derek Jeter and what to expect from Alex Rodriguez.
A-Rod returns after sitting out his season-long suspension for use of performance enhancing drugs.
He issued a letter of apology to the Yankees, their fans and major league baseball earlier in the week. When A-Rod shows up at spring training, his every move - at least initially - will be documented chapter and verse.
Girardi says the new players better get used to it, because as he found out when he first came here in 1996, it's different playing for the New York Yankees.
"That's part of the gig here and the one thing that's going to happen is, for the new players who are here who are not used to this, they are going to get it right away," Girardi said. "They are going to get baptized right away. The one thing you have to have as a Yankee player is thick skin. I think the one thing you have to have as a champion is thick skin. There's going to be another big story with the New York Yankees besides this that comes about during the course of the season. It always happens. So they are going to get their first baptism during the spring and it's going to be a pretty big splash."
The other issues, especially the health of starting pitchers like Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia, may be more important to the Yankees' overall health in 2015.
But for now the A-Rod story is front and center in Yankeeland. Now the question is can he still play?