MLB Roundup: A-Rod suffers setback, Pedroia signs eight-year extension

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez returned to the team's minor league complex in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday after his latest injury setback.

At the same time, Rodriguez has sought a second opinion on his quad and Michael L. Gross, chief of The Sports Medicine Institute at Hackensack University, told WFAN that he did not find any problems.

"To be perfectly honest," Gross said, "I don't see any sort of injury there."

Rodriguez left Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a strained left quadriceps last weekend during what was supposed to be the final leg of a minor-league rehab assignment before a return to the major leagues on Monday. The team said an MRI in New York showed a Grade 1 strain that would sideline him for a week to 10 days.

Rodriguez, 37, did not speak with reporters when he arrived at the complex. But USA Today reported that Rodriguez believes the Yankees are saying he is injured in order to collect insurance money.

It is not known how the Yankees will move forward with Rodriguez. The team previously said the quad injury would require rest and treatment.

Rodriguez not only is recovering from hip surgery in January and the quadriceps strain but also remains under investigation by Major League Baseball for his reported link to a south Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly supplied players with performance-enhancing drugs.

In 13 minor league rehab games, Rodriguez hit .250 (8 for 40) with two home runs and eight RBIs.

---Second baseman Dustin Pedroia will remain the face of the Boston Red Sox for the next decade after finalizing an eight-year, $110 million contract.

The 5-foot-6, 165-pound Pedroia was signed for the 2014 season at $10 million under terms of his previous contract. With the extension, Pedroia will receive a signing bonus of $1 million and salaries of $12.5 million in 2014, $12.5 million in 2015, $13 million in 2016, $15 million in 2017, $16 million in 2018, $15 million in 2019, $13 million in 2020 and $12 million in 2021.

The Red Sox and Pedroia, 29, made significant progress for a contract extension worth $100 million during the All-Star Break.

Pedroia is in the fourth year of a six-year, $40.5 million deal.

Pedroia, the 2008 AL MVP, is batting .325, and has a career-high .396 on-base percentage.

---The Minnesota Twins placed catcher Joe Mauer on paternity leave after his wife gave birth to twins on Tuesday night.

Mauer was scratched from the lineup for Tuesday night's game and took a flight from California after he learned that his wife, whose due date was Aug. 31, was in labor.

Maddie Mauer gave birth to twins Emily and Maren early Wednesday morning, the team announced. Mauer made it back in time to witness the births.

Players on the paternity list are permitted to leave the team for 24 to 72 hours. It was not immediately known when Mauer would rejoin the Twins.

---Yoenis Cespedes was in the Oakland Athletics' lineup for the first time since the All-Star break on Wednesday for a game against the Houston Astros.

Cespedes, who won the Home Run Derby on July 15, had missed five consecutive games because of a left wrist injury. He was penciled into the No. 5 spot in the batting order as the left fielder for the A's.

The 27-year-old is hitting .227 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI in 80 games this season, but his batting average is 65 points lower than last year's .292.

---The Chicago City Council approved the Cubs' proposed $500 million renovation of historic Wrigley Field on Wednesday.

The Cubs are planning to add a 5,700-square-foot Jumbotron above the left-field bleacher seats at the 99-year-old park, a nearby hotel, an office/retail complex, a plaza, 35,000 square feet of advertising signs and improvements throughout the facility.

The club is funding the entire cost of the renovations.

"There is not one single taxpayer dollar going to back this thing up," Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

---Major League Baseball's Office of the Commissioner announced Wednesday that two minor league players have been suspended for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Receiving 50-game suspensions each without pay are Cleveland Indians minor league shortstop Rubiel Martinez and New York Yankees minor league left-handed pitcher Anderson Severino.

Both players tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, MLB officials said.

Martinez is currently playing for the Dominican Summer League Indians, while Severino is on the roster of the Dominican Summer League Yankees.

Both suspensions are effective immediately.