A-Rod Tells Yankees, "Enough Doctors, Let's Play"
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The he said/he said between the New York Yankees and third baseman Alex Rodriguez continued Thursday with Rodriguez saying he's ready to play starting Friday.
The dispute between the teams started after A-Rod finished his rehabilitation from hip surgery a little more than a week ago. He suffered a strained quadriceps, which was confirmed by team doctors.
But A-Rod's desire to come back to the roster and the Yankees desire to have him back on the roster are two totally different monsters. The Yankees are hoping Major League Baseball will suspend Rodriguez soon and take the decision off their hands.
The story took another turn Wednesday when A-Rod had another doctor go on a media tour saying that based on the MRI, but without examining A-Rod, the third baseman should be cleared to play.
So Thursday, A-Rod released a statement saying he had had enough of the doctors and the back-and-forth between himself and the Yankees.
"I think the Yankees and I crossed signals," Rodriguez said. "I don't want any more mix-ups. I'm excited and ready to play and help this team win a championship. I feel great, and I'm ready and want to be in the lineup Friday night. Enough doctors, let's play."
Still, no movement has been made on the Yankees side of the equation to get A-Rod back in the lineup at all, much less by Friday night.
MLB investigators are presumably still working on the case against A-Rod for performance-enhancing drug usage and the Coral Gables-based Biogenesis clinic. The PED case has already cost Ryan Braun the rest of the season to suspension and all signs point to A-Rod being next.
If MLB were to suspend Rodriguez, it would allow the Yankees to not have to worry about activating the third baseman. If MLB bans A-Rod for life, the Yankees would be off the hook for paying him the remainder of his contract, which is more than $90 million.
