Jeter mum on much-talked-about relationship with A-Rod

"They see us on the field, if one person gives another one a look, it's a story," Jeter said. "If we're at opposite ends of the bench, people say it's a story."

Jeter spoke with Rodriguez in the clubhouse. He played catch with him on the field as they warmed up. But he refused to say how close he and Rodriguez are away from the ballpark.

"How would I characterize it? I would characterize it as it doesn't make a difference," Jeter said. "What we do away from the field, how much time we spend together, really makes no difference when we're playing."

Coming up through the Yankees' organization and becoming a key component of the unit that won four World Series titles from 1996-2000, Jeter has worked hard to avoid discussing his private life.

"I understand my job is public, but your personal life is your personal life. Once you open that door, it doesn't stop," he said. "Away from the field, people want to keep tabs on how many times we go out to eat, things like that. That has no bearing on what we're trying to do."

Jeter was criticized by some last year for not voicing sufficient support for Rodriguez, who struggled at times during the regular season and was booed at Yankee Stadium.

"From Day 1 I've said I support Alex," he said. "The only thing I'm not going to do is tell the fans what to do. ... I don't think it's my job to tell fans to boo or not to boo."

Yankees manager Joe Torre thought it was good for Rodriguez to air his issues early in spring training.

"Evidently, what Alex was talking about yesterday sort of made him feel better," Torre said. "Evidently, Alex said what he needed to say."

Since winning their third straight World Series in 2000, the Yankees have fallen short each year. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Detroit last season.

Torre, entering the final year of his contract, touched upon the loss to the Tigers when he addressed his players, and sounded an upbeat note.

"It was characterized as a failure, a disappointment, and I let them know how proud I was of what they did last year. Win 97 games, you can't negate all that by having 2½ bad games," he said. "We did too many good things to have these guys think that there's something major that they need to change, other than the results. But you can't always control that."