updated 5:01 p.m. ET Feb. 21, 2007

TAMPA, Fla. - Derek Jeter wouldn’t discuss his off-the-field relationship with Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, however, felt relieved to speak his mind.

As 64 New York Yankees players assembled on the field for the first time this year, the focus was on the withered friendship of their two biggest stars.

“I don’t have a rift with Alex,” Jeter said Tuesday, a day after Rodriguez finally acknowledged they no longer are the best of friends. “We go out there. We work together. This is our fourth year to be playing together. It’s annoying to hear about it all the time.”

Shortly after arriving at spring training on Monday, Rodriguez said it was time for him to stop pretending that his relationship with Jeter was as close as it was in the 1990s. The pair have drifted apart since Rodriguez made critical remarks in a 2001 Esquire article.

“That’s as honest as I’ve been here since I’ve been here, the four years, and that part of it felt good,” Rodriguez said Tuesday as he left Legends Field.

A-Rod’s psyche has been subject to analysis by fans since he joined the Yankees before the 2004 season. While he’s a two-time AL MVP, Jeter has four World Series rings.

Rodriguez felt a need to conform during his first three seasons in New York. He appears to be taking a different tack this year.

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“I just found myself trying to say always the right things and trying not to screw up,” he said. “And I think that came across for some people as very disingenuous and phony perhaps — those are the things you hear. If you’re going to get chopped up into pieces, you might as well be as honest as you can and get ripped for it.”

He thinks he’ll be more at ease going forward.

“You get a little gun-shy, that’s all,” he said. “It all comes down to being yourself.”

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Sitting in virtually the same spot in the first-base dugout at Legends Field that Rodriguez occupied a day earlier, Jeter appeared uncomfortable discussing the topic.

“I don’t see the relevance of it,” he said. “It has no bearing on us playing baseball.”

He doesn’t comprehend the focus on their relationship.

“They see us on the field, if one person gives another one a look, it’s a story,” Jeter said. “If we’re at opposite ends of the bench, people say it’s a story.”

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Jeter spoke with Rodriguez in the clubhouse. He played catch with him on the field as they warmed up. But he refused to say how close he and Rodriguez are away from the ballpark.

“How would I characterize it? I would characterize it as it doesn’t make a difference,” Jeter said. “What we do away from the field, how much time we spend together, really makes no difference when we’re playing.”

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