Nixon Critical of Star Yankee

Trot Nixon added fuel to the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry on Tuesday by criticizing Alex Rodriguez even before the first spring training workout for either team.

Boston’s outfielder praised Rodriguez’s playing ability but said New York’s third baseman wasn’t the “Yankee type.�

“I don’t look at him as that. He might be in a lot of people’s eyes,� Nixon said. “He’s done some great things on the field. He’s one of the best baseball players in the game and probably will be when it’s all said and done.

“But when people ask me about the Yankees, I tell them about [Derek] Jeter and Bernie Williams and [Jorge] Posada. I don’t tell them about Rodriguez.... He can’t stand up to Jeter in my book or Bernie Williams or Posada.�

Nixon also criticized Rodriguez for slapping the ball away from Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo along the first base line during Game 6 of the American League championship series and then complaining when he was called out.

“You’re the one that swung the bat and hit that little nubber down there,� he said of Rodriguez.

Boston became the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 postseason deficit and beat the Yankees for the AL pennant, then went on to sweep St. Louis for its first World Series title since 1918.

Yankee position players report Sunday and start workouts Tuesday. Red Sox pitchers and catchers are due in camp by Thursday, with the first full squad workout scheduled for Tuesday. Nixon has been in Fort Myers, Fla., since last week.

Nixon also said he respected Yankee first baseman Jason Giambi, who is the focus of a controversy surrounding steroid use in baseball.

Without saying that he used steroids, Giambi apologized last week to his teammates, fans and the media for distractions he caused.

“I don’t feel sorry for Giambi, but I do have a great amount of respect for him, for what he’s done in this game, the kind of person he is,� Nixon said. “He’s a superstar and he doesn’t act like it.�

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Baltimore Oriole shortstop Miguel Tejada denied that he used steroids and called the suggestions in Jose Canseco’s book “false.�

“Any inference made by Jose Canseco that I used steroids is complete false,� Tejada said in a statement.

“I barely knew Jose during his career, so it is ridiculous for him to suggest we ever had discussions regarding their use. I work very hard to keep in shape, and any suggestion that I use steroids, or any banned substance, is insulting and not worth discussing further.�

Tejada made his major league debut with Oakland on Aug. 27, 1997, the same day Canseco went on the disabled list for the rest of the season.

Canseco did not return to the Athletics in 1998.

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An FBI agent said federal investigators warned Major League Baseball about 10 years ago that some of its players were using steroids, but baseball executives failed to act on the information, the New York Daily News reported.

In Tuesday’s editions, the Daily News reported that a special agent in Ann Arbor, Mich., told baseball security chief Kevin Hallinan that Canseco and other players were using illegal anabolic steroids.

“I alerted Major League Baseball back in the time when we had a case, that Canseco was a heavy user and that they should be aware of it,� Special Agent Greg Stejskal told the Daily News. “I spoke to the people in their security office; Hallinan was one of the people I spoke to.�

Baseball officials denied they were told of steroid use, and Hallinan told the Daily News, “It did not happen. Not with this guy, not with anyone else.�

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The Red Sox signed right-handed reliever Denney Tomori, a 14-year veteran of baseball in Japan, and acquired infielder Alejandro Machado from the Washington Nationals.

Tomori, 37, agreed to a one-year minor league contract with an invitation to the major league team’s spring training camp. In 360 games with three Japanese teams, he is 18-28 with 30 saves and a 3.96 earned-run average.