Around the Yankee Universe, 03.13.09

Here is a little New York Yankee reading material for a (dare I mention it?) Friday the 13th.

• Peter Abraham dissects the work Brett Gardner and hitting coach Kevin Long did to re-construct Gardner's swing. Speaking of Gardner, Sweeny Murti has already projected him as the winner of the center field battle with Melky Cabrera.
• Yahoo! Sports wonders, justifiably, if the Yankees could have done a better job handling Alex Rodriguez' hip injury.
• The new Yankee Stadium will have some obstructed-view seats. Newsday points out that this is not really unusual. Most of the other baseball stadiums constructed in the last 10 years include some obstructed-view seats.
• MLB.com looks at Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, both of whom are hoping to make up for miserable 2008 seasons.
• Some say 19-year-old phenom Jesus Montero, the top prospect in the Yankee farm system, is too large to have a big-league future as a catcher. Montero -- and the Yankees -- disagree with that assessment.
• Just who exactly is Cody Ransom? The New York Post tells us.
• Bernie Williams has been accused of hitting a woman at a nightclub. Bernie Williams? Hitting a woman? That doesn't sound like Bernie to me.
• Many Yankee fans are high on Nick Swisher, hoping he wins the right field job. The fine Yankee blog Was Watching is not among them.
• The Yankees feel good about the depth and talent they have available in the bullpen.