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          Yankees' Mark Teixeira on sharing field with NYCFC: 'It's going to suck'

          • Andrew Marchand, ESPN Senior WriterMar 12, 2015, 08:53 AM ET
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              Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »
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          TAMPA, Fla. -- Despite some players fearing the worst and Mark Teixeira saying "It's going to suck," the Yankees' front office insists the Yankee Stadium field will be fine for NYCFC to share it with the baseball team.

          "The field will be fine for both sports," Yankees president Randy Levine said by phone on Wednesday.

          Teixeira, in a statement to the New York Daily News, said, "It's going to suck, but you have to deal with it. It's going to tear up the infield, but there's nothing we can do about it, so we'll deal with it."

          Levine said the team has studied the issue. Before all but one series, there is a period of three days between the NYCFC game and the Yankees' next game. And with the best grounds crew anywhere, according to Levine, the Yankees feel confident the field will be in good shape.

          The Yankees own part of NYCFC along with the City Football Group that also owns the Premier League's Manchester City.

          NYCFC coach Jason Kreis told the Daily News: "I could turn it around, ask [the Yankees] if they'd take care of [the field] for us."

          "I haven't looked. I don't plan to," he continued. "My mother told me not to worry about what I can't control, and I don't think they'll put me on the grounds crew."

          Levine reassured reporters that his grounds crew was at work on the field.

          "We spent a lot of time with a lot of people, including our stadium operations and grounds crew, who we think are best in the world," Levine said. "Man City, who are soccer experts, and their crew also advised us on how to keep the field in good shape."

          Both teams have worked carefully to avoid conflicts and keep the three-day window for field conversion open. There are two three-day turnarounds already on the calendar as NYCFC has home games set for June 13 and Aug. 13 while the Yankees play at home on June 17 and Aug. 17.

          Levine said he does not anticipate any issues.

          "Everything will be perfectly suitable for play by both teams, subject to no horrific events caused by Mother Nature," Levine said. "If that happens, we'll deal with it. It was well thought out, and if we didn't think it could happen in a very, very good way, we wouldn't have done it. We recognize Yankee Stadium is the cathedral of baseball."

          NYCFC will play 17 regular-season home games. Their first is Sunday at 5 p.m. ET against the New England Revolution on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.

          Last summer, Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers was critical of the field after an exhibition game.

          "I thought three-quarters of it was excellent," Rodgers said, referring to the areas not overlapping the baseball infield. "I thought there was a patch on the right-hand side, which I assume might be where the pitcher stands, but three-quarters of it was excellent."