TAMPA, Fla. -- One day after George Steinbrenner expressed his feelings about the World Baseball Classic, one of his players came to the defense of the tournament.

Derek Jeter, who will represent the United States in the event, said that while he understands the owner's feelings, he is excited about playing for Team USA.

The Yankees have not pressured any of their players to back out of the WBC, though some of them have done so in recent weeks. Chien-Ming Wang has said he will not pitch for Chinese Taipei, while Robinson Cano will skip the event for the Dominican Republic.

"The Boss hasn't told us that he's not happy," Jeter said. "The owner of any business wouldn't like to see someone get hurt when they're spending the money on the organization. But this is something that's been voted on. People are excited about it. Baseball is excited about it. The players are excited about it."

Steinbrenner is worried about his players, most notably Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon, getting hurt during the WBC, but Jeter believes that there is as much of a chance of players getting hurt during meaningless exhibition games.

"It's only eight games," Jeter said. "There's always a threat of injury whether you're in Arizona or here in Tampa in Spring Training, so you can't really worry about it. You get yourself in shape and continue to do the same things that you do while you're here and hope no one gets hurt."