Welcome to the New Embassy!

That's right, New York sports fans, but the Embassy has moved. In fact, the whole need for an "embassy" may have disappeared with my move from Boston. Then again, probably not. While no place does "hate NY" quite like Boston, you must trust me when I tell you that Yankee-hating knows no boundaries.

So, my digs in Lancaster, Pa., will remain a safe haven for Yankee fans. Right now the location is my father-in-law's house. Ron is a huge Yankee fan who grew up in Jersey. He's got memorabilia and photos from the '50s and '60s Yankee teams all over his office. Mrs. Ambassador and I will be moving into a downtown apartment pretty soon.

But regardless of place, I will never stop following the hometown teams from the city of my birth.

And this year, the one that ends up being the subject of most of my ink is the defending World Champion!

So let's get going with a look at today's starter, Chad Gaudin, who is competing for the Yankees' fifth starter role, along with Sergio Mitre, Chan Ho Park, Alfredo Aceves and undoubtedly a few others, in addition to, of course, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes.

I'd say it's safe to read into this that the Yankees, while they publicly proclaim that Joba and Hughes figure to be starters in the Yankees' long-term plans, have to be considering the possibility that both pitchers could be destined for the bullpen.

I'm a firm believer that the best case for both guys is that they succeed as starters, but it may be that it's not going to happen for either guy. Chamberlain, in particular, shows the widest gulf between what he can do as a starter and as a reliever. He has had a few bright spots as a starter, but mostly he has been a frustrating pitcher who has struggled to throw strikes. He's a good bet every time out to throw 105 pitches in five innings and guarantee a long night for the bullpen.

Yet it was only 2 1/2 years ago that Chamberlain came up from the minors and became, instantly, the best relief pitcher in baseball not named Rivera. We haven't seen that guy since the midge game in Cleveland. Then again, the Yankees have screwed around with Joba so much, he's never had a chance to simply go to the mound and throw fire.

I've long been a supporter of Joba being a starter, but I'm running out of patience for that, and I think Mariano Rivera's replacement might be there. Perhaps we should just turn Joba loose from the bullpen once and for all and stop trying to craft a starter out of him. He just might not be that guy.

Hughes, on the other hand, has really not shown yet that he can't be a starter, he just hasn't stayed healthy. In truth, his career is not that unlike Joba's, yet something about him just screams "starter." He was incredible in the eighth inning a year ago, but he just doesn't seem like a short reliever. He looks more like a craftsman than a brute.

Here's hoping Hughes can just stay healthy all spring and get a fair shake at winning the No. 5 starting job.

Meanwhile, no score end of the 1st. Maholm breezes through Jeter, Granderson and Teixeira, and Gaudin pitches around his own error and an infield hit.

Granderson now 0-1 against lefties this spring. New York writers sound alarm bells all over the city.