i guess there's SOMEthing good about it.

baby bombers, as far as the eye can see.

Yes, it is the strangest of spring trainings here when the Yankees can't knock either the Knicks or NFL labor talks off the back page. But for the moment, without a crisis on the horizon, or George Steinbrenner raising the ante on his mini-feud with Bud Selig, there's not much to do but watch baseball.

And what you see featured here is a species that is normally foreign to this environment. In a word, youth.

Partly because Derek Jeter and friends are playing in the World Baseball Classic, and partly because the Yankees seem determined to prove that their farm system is not as barren as has been reported, Legends Field is suddenly a kiddie playground.

Last year's phenom, Robinson Cano, is a grizzled veteran at 23 compared to many players drawing attention in these games.

Philip Hughes, the Yanks' top pitching prospect, is 19. Eric Duncan, their top position-player prospect from Florham Park, N.J. - is 21. Manning center field most days is 21-year-old Melky Cabrera, who proved not ready for prime time last year, and Joe Torre has seemed genuinely impressed by 20-year-old Ramiro Pena at shortstop, and 19-year-old Marcos Vechionacci at third base.

Finally, there was 21-year-old J.Brent Cox, the reliever drafted out of the University of Texas last year, closing out yesterday's 11-8 win over the Blue Jays. [daily news]

Labels: baby bombers, yanquis