The New York Yankees told second baseman Robinson Cano to stop playing winter ball, his Dominican Republic team told ESPNdeportes.com on Thursday. "The Yankees sent a letter to Cano to stop playing, but they didn't offer many details or reasons," said Alfredo Griffin, the Estrellas Orientales' General Manager. Cano told Estrellas teammates, however, that the Yankees didn't want him to aggravate a calf injury that is still healing. The Dominican winter league baseball tournament began its round-robin playoff series Wednesday. Cano hit .389 in nine games during the regular season. He was hitless in his first postseason game Wednesday.

The New York Yankees finalized a $3.75 million, one-year contract with LaTroy Hawkins on Thursday, strengthening their weak middle relief with the veteran right-hander. Hawkins, who turned 35 last Friday, was 2-5 with a 3.42 ERA last season for the Colorado Rockies. He made $3.25 million, and Colorado declined a $3.75 million option, choosing instead to pay a $250,000 buyout.

Joba Chamberlain is preparing for his role as a starter while knowing that he is unlikely to be as untouchable as he was as the Yankees' setup man. "You know? No, because I put those expectations on myself," Chamberlain said, though he also is grounded in realism. As a starter, "I'm not going to be able to throw 15, 16 scoreless innings, and do what I did as a reliever", Chamberlain said in a recent telephone conversation. "But I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep my team in the game and go deep in my starts. "There's going to be times when I get hit around. But you understand that that's a part of it."

In a video posted on his official Web site, Roger Clemens said that he has become "almost numb" to the steroid accusations against him in the Mitchell Report and that he has granted an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" in an effort to clear his name. CBS spokesman Kevin Tedesco said the interview is scheduled to air January 6.

The Yankees did accomplish something this year: they lowered their luxury tax for the second straight season. The Yankees were hit with a tax bill of $23.88 million by MLB in a notice sent to teams late Friday, pushing them over the $100 million mark since the penalty for profligate spending was introduced in 2003. The only other club that must pay the competitive-balance tax, as it is formally known, is the World Series' champion Red Sox, who owe $6.06 million. Checks are due at the commissioner's office by January 31.

Roger Clemens spoke for the first time about his alleged steroid use when he released a video statement on Sunday, denying all allegations. The video, shown on his personal web site, rogerclemensonline.com, shows Clemens giving the following one-minute, 48 second statement: "Over the last 15 days, it's been extremely difficult, for my family, my children, my extended family," Clemens said. "I'm holding up better than they are. I'm almost numb to some of these suggestions that I used steroids. It's amazing to me that I'm going to lengths that I'm going to have to defend myself. "I faced this last year when the LA Times reported that I used steroids. I said it was not true then. Now, the whole world knows it's not true now that that's come out. "It's surfaced again later now with this Mitchell Report. Let me be clear: The answer is no, I did not use steroids, human growth hormone, and I've never done so. I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or human growth hormone into my body, either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays, or the New York Yankees. This Report is simply not true."

Tommy Byrne, a hard-throwing left-hander who pitched in four World Series and was known for struggles with his control, died on Friday in Wake Forest, N.C. He was 87. A Baltimore product who grew up idolizing Babe Ruth, Byrne was signed by the Yankees in 1940 and debuted in New York in 1943. He pitched two stints with the Bombers, winning 15 games in both 1949 and '50 before returning to win a career-high 16 games in 1955. Byrne's erratic control earned him the nickname "Wild Man." Byrne walked 179 batters in 1949 and 160 batters in 1950, and despite his high win totals in both seasons, he was dealt to the St. Louis Browns in June 1951 for left-handed pitcher Stubby Overmire.

If all goes well in spring training for the Yankees, Joba Chamberlain is likely to start next season in the Yankees' bullpen, as part of the team's effort to limit his innings. Chamberlain will go to spring training and, at the outset, prepare to pitch out of the rotation, along with five other rotation candidates: Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Mike Mussina and Ian Kennedy. Assuming that none of the other five has a physical or performance breakdown, Chamberlain would then open 2008 in the bullpen as a set-up man for at least the start of the season -- under the Joba Rules. The Yankees want to restrict the number of innings Chamberlain throws, and working him out of the bullpen for at least a couple of months will allow them to do that. Chamberlain may return to the rotation sometime in the middle of the season, depending on the Yankees' needs.

Derek Jeter wants everybody to wait until all the facts are in before declaring Roger Clemens guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. "It seems right now people are rushing to judgment," Jeter said of his pal whose name headlined the Mitchell Report last week, thanks to the testimony of former personal trainer Brian McNamee. "You have to let it play out a little bit before you say he is guilty or not guilty." Jeter talked last evening before hosting a Turn 2 Foundation night at the movies for 500 children at the Ziegfeld Theatre. Jeter has never disguised his feelings for Clemens. When Clemens joined the Yankees in 1999, Jeter, who wasn't a fan when Clemens pitched for Boston and Toronto, gravitated toward Clemens. During the 2006 World Baseball Classic they shared a house in California.

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling called on Roger Clemens to give up the four Cy Young Awards he's won since 1997 if he can't clear his name from allegations that he used steroids to prolong and enhance his career.