Cashman expects A-Rod to remain in lineup
CHICAGO -- Alex Rodriguez is back in the lineup, and he'll be there as long as the New York Yankees can keep him there.
Before Tuesday's game against the Chicago White Sox, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he's working under the assumption Rodriguez will be available for the rest of the season. And if that's the case, Rodriguez will be in the lineup for the struggling Yankees, most of the time at third base.
"If he's healthy, he's definitely going to be, by far, better than what we've been running out there," Cashman said.
One day after playing for the first time this season, Rodriguez was hitting third as New York's designated hitter Tuesday. Rodriguez, who will appeal his 211-game suspension for his involvement with the Biogenesis clinic, walked in his first plate appearance against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale.
For Cashman, Tuesday seemed to represent a clean break from Monday, when Rodriguez made his return to the New York roster.
"I don't want to talk about yesterday anymore," Cashman said. "I think everybody talked enough about yesterday."
Unfortunately for Cashman, A-Rod, and the Yankees, what happens with the beleaguered Rodriguez won't be far from anybody's minds.
Manager Joe Girardi said he chose to DH Rodriguez because of the length of Monday's game, when A-Rod played all eight innings at third base.
"I didn't even ask him. He said he felt good today," Girardi said. "I didn't even ask him. I thought it was a good idea."
Of course, any talk of Rodriguez doesn't stop with what's happening on the field. It didn't pause Tuesday, one day after his hyped 2013 debut.
Mariano Rivera, making his final stop in Chicago, was asked if he feels sorry for his longtime teammate, who was the focus of Major League Baseball's investigation into Biogenesis. The former South Florida business supplied banned performance-enhancing drugs, and 13 other players accepted suspensions for their involvement.
"Alex is my friend and definitely it's hard when you see all this stuff and when you see the fans booing a player because I'm a player," Rivera said. "It's hard, but it is what it is. At the same time, he's a human being. Seeing the way they boo him is kind of hard to take and to see."
For the rest of this season, and probably the rest of his career, Rodriguez likely will have to deal with what he's went through in Chicago. Before his first plate appearance Tuesday, he was lustily booed again. But at least he's playing for the Yankees, a team that's used to being the center of attention.
"Right now this is very similar to what we see otherwise, before games, post games, and different things like that. It's the New York Yankees. I wouldn't expect anything different," outfielder Curtis Granderson said. "Obviously there was a little story there, but I don't see it will be the last story once you get yourself into the postseason, which we've done three times in a row, hopefully for a fourth time."
Rodriguez will have to be a part of that, building off his 1-for-4 night Monday.
"He played under control," Cashman said. "He appeared to be healthy, which is good, so he'll help us."
Before Monday, Yankees third basemen were batting .215 with four homers and 32 RBIs in 111 games.
