Thursday Recap: A-Rod Still Out, Speaks Out

While the rest of the world was enjoying their normal lives, Alex Rodriguez was out doing what Alex Rodriguez does: keeping himself directly under to media spotlight.

As you might remember, Rodriguez caused a major stir when he decided to seek a second opinion on his quad, the same quad that Yankees teams doctor Chris Ahmad had already diagnosed as a Grade 1 strain. A-Rod, without team permission, asked Dr. Michael Gross his opinion on the MRI, to which he said he saw nothing unusual.

A-Rod went on saying that he felt find, there was no pain in his quad and that he wanted to be in the Yankees lineup Friday night for the series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx.

Cashman released a statement shortly before the Yankees took the field against the Rangers Wednesday night, calling him "Mr. Rodriguez" in the statement, showing to some degree how their relationship stands.

The saga continued on Thursday, first with the statement that was released by A-Rod:

"I think the Yanks and I crossed signals, 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."

Later in the day, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman held a conference call around the time of the Yankees and Rangers were playing in the fourth inning of their game that people kinda forget is still being played even through the A-Rod chaos.

Cashman said that he, Yankees president Bruce Levine and A-Rod, accompanied by his lawyer, had about a 15-minute conversation, in which the two side, the Yankees and A-Rod, discussed his situation.

Cashman said that Rodriguez was evaluated once agains and stood by the Grade 1 strain, but said there is some improvement. Cashman said that A-Rod won't join the Yankees on Friday and that he'll continue to rest and receive treatment, and they would aim for an August 1st date to begin a rehab assignment.

"I can't tell you anything past the Aug. 1 date," Cashman said. "If everything goes right, I don't think you're looking at much longer past that date. We just need to cross off every box that needs to be checked. We're just following the normal course of action. So hopefully really soon after we hit that Aug. 1 date when we can get him in a [simulated] game or rehab game. Hopefully it's not very long."

What did A-Rod tink of the Yankees' plan for him? Well, he later when on the radio to talk to Mike Francesa of WFAN, telling him what he thought.

"Obviously, I'm an employee, I have to follow my bosses and I was on the phone with both of my bosses, they said there is a protocol," Rodriguez said.

The protocol is that he'll wait it out until August 1st, then he was able to choose between a five-day or a seven-day rehab plan. Obviously, A-Rod decided on the five-day plan because it'll get him on the field faster, the way he wants it.

A-Rod was then asked by Francesa, "Do you trust the Yankees?", to which A-Rod responded, "I'd rather not get into that, I'm just frustrated I'm not going to be on the field tomorrow. I'll leave it at that."

One more question thrown his way was about why he had his lawyer take part in the conference he had with the Levin and Cashman.

"I just want to make sure everything is documented properly, I know there were reports out there that I didn't ask for permission [to get a second opinion], but actually on Tuesday night I had a conversation with [Levine] and told him that I was going to get a second opinion. I wanted to be very clear on that. That's it, I just want to make sure everything is properly documented so there are no more mix ups."

A-Rod says that he told Levin that he was going to seek a second opinion on quad, contrary to what reports have said that the Yankees were investigating whether A-Rod broke CBA code by seeking the second opinion without telling the team.

Reports are saying that the Yankees are planning on disciplining him for violating the CBA codes, but it's not completely known what they would do. Some sources say that the Yanks might plan on issuing him a fine.

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