In response to an Alex Rodriguez tweet stating that he had been medically cleared for rehab games, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman delivered a harsh and pointed message to his $300 million dollar third baseman.
“You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, [we will]. Alex should just shut the (expletive) up. That’s it. I’m going to call Alex now,” the general manager said to ESPN New York on Tuesday night.
Rodriguez tweeted on Tuesday, “Visit from Dr. [Bryan] Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news – the green light to play games again!” This tweet contradicts Cashman, who on Monday said that Rodriguez had not been cleared and there was no expected date for when that would happen.
Cashman explained that Dr. Kelly has no authority over an part of Rodriguez’s rehab now that he has gone from New York to Tampa to continue working on it. The Yankees and Rodriguez have had some recent problems in their relationship, stemming back to him being pinch hit for and benched in the 2012 ALCS.
Rodriguez is still under contract through 2017 and there are reports that MLB will try to suspend him for a recent connection to performance enhancers. This is the latest bump in the road for the ball club and one if its prized players and one that is sure to not go away quickly.
By Sam Jackson