Hal Steinbrenner: Yankees expect Alex Rodriguez to be ready for 2015 Spring Training
By Hayden Kane
The New York Yankees have the rest of the 2014 season to worry about before they get serious about anything regarding next season. Even with that being the case, however, there is one big fat lingering issue that hangs over the 2015 season that is impossible to ignore.
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That, of course, would be the question of what the future holds for controversial third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Depending on the status of his hips, he will be eligible to return at Spring Training.
According to team owner Hal Steinbrenner, the team is expecting Rodriguez to be ready to go by the time camp breaks next season. As passed along by Ken Davidoff of the New York Post:
"Asked whether he expected Rodriguez back with the Yankees, Steinbrenner said, “That’s what he’s planning for, and that’s what we’re planning for.”Steinbrenner added, “I have not talked to Alex. I know my brother-in-law [Yankees executive vice president Felix Lopez] ran into him in the city, said he looks good, looks fit. Alex is a hard worker. Alex will be ready. And we’ll just have to go from there. See how he does and how he responds to playing every day in spring training.”"
Rodriguez’s prowess as a player, and his controversial standing in Major League Baseball, are well known by now. With that aside, his return presents some business decisions for the Yankees. That will start, among other things, with their decision with pending free agent Chase Headley at the top of the list.
It will be hard to gauge those decisions before actually seeing Rodriguez on the field, however. So it is that all eyes will be on the unpopular third baseman when he returns to the Yankees.