Tex, Youk on track to return to Yankees soon

NEW YORK -- With Mark Teixeira expected to report to Double-A Trenton on Wednesday and Kevin Youkilis not thought to be far behind, the Yankees may be in position to add reinforcement help to their roster by the upcoming weekend.

Teixeira (right wrist) and Youkilis (back) each had five at-bats on Monday in an extended spring training game in Tampa, Fla., and manager Joe Girardi said that both players are continuing to progress toward their big league return dates.

"As I've said, it's how they feel and when we feel -- and they feel -- that they're ready," Girardi said. "It has to be both sides and not necessarily one."

Girardi said that Teixeira's situation is trickier because he needs to compile both left-handed and right-handed at-bats; Teixeira said he has been generally swinging twice as much from the left side of the plate as the right in simulated games.

Youkilis has had no recent difficulty with his back, but Girardi said he would want to see Youkilis show the ability to play in three consecutive games without incident before activating him.

Girardi also acknowledged that the respective returns of Teixeira and Youkilis would displace contributors like Lyle Overbay and rookie David Adams, but Girardi said it is too soon to begin planning how that will be sorted out.

"I'll continue to take the approach [of] I'll handle it when I have to handle it," Girardi said. "Right now, I've got to focus on the guys in the room. We're hoping that we get these guys back soon, but I'll worry about that when it happens."