There has been so much talk about Alex Rodriguez so far this season, it’s easy to forget he hasn’t even played for the Yankees in 2009.
That could change on Friday when the Yankees open a series in Baltimore.
“Friday is a possibility,” manager Joe Girardi said before the Yankees’ 6-4 loss to the Red Sox last night at Yankee Stadium. “Is Friday the day? I can’t tell you.”
There were promising signs in Florida even as “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez” — the much hyped biography that has created yet another firestorm around the slugger — was released.
On the field in Clearwater, Fla., Rodriguez blasted a long home run in his final at-bat and played seven innings in an extended spring training game against Phillies minor leaguers. He didn’t field any grounders, but as he left the field, he said he “feels good.”
Rodriguez, recovering from surgery on his right hip in March, is scheduled to play again today. Girardi said it wasn’t necessary for Rodriguez to play a full nine-inning game before rejoining the Yanks.
“So much depends on how he feels, when he believes he is ready to go,” Girardi said. “I have not put a date on it because I want to see how he bounces back. . . . If he feels he is ready we will probably take him back.”
That’s good news for the Yankees, who were just as unanimous about not reading the book as they were about wanting Rodriguez back in the lineup.
When asked if he had seen the book, Nick Swisher answered quickly.
“Hell no,” he said. “Nobody’s gonna read that [stuff]. It’s stupid. It’s dumb. We’re a united front. We’re all behind Alex.”
Jorge Posada, like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, also said he wouldn’t read the book.
“[Rodriguez has] handled this stuff well in the past,” Posada said. “I have nothing negative to say about Alex. . . . He already addressed it and we don’t need talk about it anymore. We’ll talk about baseball now. It’s time for us to go and play ball.”
As for the investigation being conducted by MLB into whether Rodriguez lied to league officials at a meeting in March, sources said it has been ongoing as the league continues to fact-check his statements.
Clearly, the Yankees just hope Rodriguez returns soon and produces.
