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TAMPA, Fla. -- In a world without Alex Rodriguez, Didi Gregorius might be the big story in Yankees camp this spring. It might be his locker that is surrounded after every workout, his BP sessions that draw the crowds, his fielding drills that are scrutinized, dissected and analyzed on a daily basis. That would not be because of anything Gregorius has done -- he is a career .243 hitter with 13 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .680 OPS in parts of three big-league seasons -- but rather what he is being asked to do: Become the first player in 20 years not named Derek Jeter to play shortstop for the New York Yankees on a daily basis. Notice I did not say "replace" Derek Jeter, because just about everyone, from GM Brian Cashman to manager Joe Girardi to Gregorius himself acknowledges that Jeter can't really be replaced, although his position on the field will need to be filled. And the circumstances of Jeter's departure -- going into retirement on his own terms and coming off a less-than-vintage caliber season -- seems to indicate that the passage of this torch will not burn Gregorius the way it scorched Tino Martinez, for instance, in replacing Don Mattingly, or even Girardi himself, who wasn't exactly welcomed warmly when he replaced Mike Stanley. But still, it has certainly been easier for Gregorius so far, with a big assist from A-Rod, who has drawn most of the early camp media attention away from, well, just about anyone else. "I’m not worried about the attention," Gregorius said Saturday after a day spent working out indoors due to a heavy rainstorm. "Of course I’m going to get interviewed no matter what I do, so it’s fine. Whenever you guys get done talking to Alex, I’ll be waiting.” Gregorius had a poster of Jeter on his wall as a kid, but has not heard from the former Yankees captain, and in fact, has never met him. Jeter was on the disabled list in 2013 when Gregorius played his one and only game at Yankee Stadium, which turned out to be a memorable one. And so far, he has flown under the radar as a Yankee thanks to the daily circus that swirls around his neighbor, several lockers removed, along the far wall in the Yankees spring training clubhouse. "People didn’t pay a lot of attention to Didi the first few days of camp," Girardi said. "It could change as time goes on, but I’m sure it helped him to get comfortable a little bit earlier and get to know his teammates without having to answer a lot of questions.” The real questions, of course, will come when the Yankees get to New York in April and unveil their new shortstop, a player with a reputation for having great range in the field and serious problems at the plate, especially against left-handed pitching. "There’s no perfect beast out there," Cashman said. "He’s a developing guy. He’s definitely not a finished product. He’s got a big ceiling. We’ll see if we can together reach that ceiling." The odds are Yankees fans will marvel at his play with the glove and moan over his production with the bat, at least as long as Girardi continues to hit him against lefties, something that then-Arizona Diamondback manager Kirk Gibson had seen enough of just two games into the 2014 season, sending Gregorius to Triple-A for 57 games in favor of prospect Chris Owings. But Cashman said that should not be construed as the Diamondbacks having "given up" on Gregorius. "He was a hard get," Cashman said. "They turned me down 10,000 ways over. I tried to get him at the deadline and I had a number of failed attempts over the winter. I finally had to go through a third team." The Yankees ultimately had to give up Shane Greene, a prized young arm, in a three-way deal that also involved the Detroit Tigers in order to land Gregorius. The Yankees were only vaguely aware of him until April 18, 2013, when Gregorius hit the first pitch he saw as a Diamondback into the right-field seats off Phil Hughes. "I remember seeing that home run and saying, who’s this kid?," Girardi said. "I’m looking forward to seeing him play." That game, in fact, is the only time Girardi has ever seen Gregorius play live; he did not play in any of the other games of the series, and the Yankees have not seen the Diamondbacks since. But even without seeing him, Girardi has already awarded Gregorius the position, in spite of his difficulties against lefties (he has never hit a home run against a lefty and has just six career RBIs vs. them) and the presence of another accomplished shortstop, Stephen Drew, on his roster. "Didi's our shortstop," Girardi said. "And I'm going to keep running him out there." If nothing else, with Gregorius at short and Drew at second, the Yankees should have their best double-play combo since a younger Jeter teamed up with Robinson Cano. And with Chase Headley signed as the everyday third baseman and Mark Teixeira presumably healthy at first, the Yankees' infield defense should be noticeably stronger than it was last season. "We’re really comfortable with his defense," Cashman said. "That’s the one thing that we’re comfortable with. The bat is obviously the question mark about where and if he will realize his maximum potential with the bat and that is something that is still a developing skill." Gregorius said his difficulties against left-handers are more a question of lack of repetitions than lack of ability. “I hadn't done that much in Arizona," he said. "There’s nothing I could do about that when I was over there. Now I’m here. It all starts in the cage and we are working real hard right now on left-handed (pitchers). That’s one thing that I’m really looking forward to for the season, to see how much I’ve been improving and what other stuff I have to work on still." Although he said he was surprised to have been traded to the Yankees, the thought of having to fill Derek Jeter's size 11-1/2s never crossed his mind, nor has the anticipated greeting from the fans at Yankee Stadium. "I always tell everybody: What Jeter did, nobody else is going to do that," he said. "If they compare me to Jeter, there’s nothing I can do. It’s my choice if I want to get it in my head or let it bother me. I’m just going to go out there and play the game. That’s all I can do."
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