(since everyone else is going to run a jpg of Derek and Alex almost kissing, here’s a snapshot of Seattle’s Blood Brothers, instead)

A day after Alex Rodriguez bemoaned no longer sleeping on Derek Jeter’s couch 5 nights a week, the Cranky Yankee Captain revealed himself to be a big fan of the Anti-Nowhere League, essentially telling Newsday’s Jim Baumbach, “so fucking what?”

“How would I characterize it?” Jeter said, repeating a question about the current relationship. “I would characterize it as it doesn’t make a difference. I think that’s the biggest thing.

“Has our relationship changed? I’ve had a lot of relationships change over the years. But what we do away from the field, how much time we spend together really makes no difference when we’re playing.”

Jeter insisted there is no “rift” between them, saying, “Let’s get that straight. We go out and work together. This is our fourth year we’re playing together. It’s annoying to hear about it all the time. Everybody assumes they know what our relationship is.”

When asked if getting the truth about their friendship-turned-coexistence out in the open is for the best, Jeter said, “You have to ask him. I didn’t bring it up. You have to ask him if it’s a good idea to get it out of the way. To me it was never an issue I felt we needed to talk about.”

Luckily for those of us trawling for dirt, Jeter wasn’t the only guy in Florida to crank up the grouchiness. Check out Jim Leyland’s reaction to Dmitri Young’s claims he was fucked over by the Tigers last season.

The Baltimore Sun’s Roch Kubatko reports Kris Benson is going to attempt to work through a rehab program for his torn right rotator cuff rather than undergo season ending surgery. Considering the sort of effervescent conversation that awaits Benson at home, I can fully understand his motivation to do everything possible to resume his playing career as soon as possible.