Of all the stars the Yankees are waiting for to return, none is more polarizing than Alex Rodriguez. And David Ortiz of the Red Sox is among those who will be among those paying attention to the third baseman’s progress.
“He’s going to have to come back at some point,” Ortiz said before last night’s All-Star Game at Citi Field. “Everybody — especially the Yankees — will have to see how he’s going to be functioning. Hopefully everything goes well for him.”
Rodriguez continued his rehab from a second hip operation by playing in a second game with Double-A Trenton in Reading last night. His 20-day rehab assignment ends this weekend, and the Yankees will have to decide whether to activate him in Texas or determine he needs more time.
When asked about Rodriguez’s legacy, Torii Hunter said: “I’m not here to talk about one player, but [Rodriguez], I’ve been playing with him since I was 16 years old [and] known him since I was 16… He’s been good to me. I know him, leave it at that.”
And despite Rodriguez’s history, the Tigers outfielder still respects his career.
“Oh yeah,” Hunter said. “I know how hard this game really is. So I don’t care what they did or who did or whatever, Barry Bonds and all those guys, it’s still impressive to hit. You’ve still got to hit the ball.”
* While the Phillies, Braves and Giants aren’t wild about acquiring Joba Chamberlain, the Tigers view him as a possible band-aid for their beleaguered bullpen.
Passed by Preston Claiborne and Shawn Kelley in manager Joe Girardi’s late-game pecking order and a free agent after the season, the Yankees are listening to what clubs have to say about a pitcher who once electrified the Stadium when he entered games but now arrives to silence and gets booed when departing.
In 25 games, the 27-year-old Chamberlain has a 5.40 ERA. He is healthy and throwing consistently in the mid-90s, but his slider has been inconsistent and he has walked 13 and fanned 24 in 23 1/3 innings.
The Tigers are ranked 12th among the 15 AL teams in bullpen ERA (4.15). Their 20 saves in 29 chances are tied for last. They are satisfied with Joaquin Benoit closing games (he has eight saves), but are looking for help in the seventh or eighth inning. Jose Valverde leads the Tigers with nine saves and he has been in the minors since being jettisoned in June.
* Tom Seaver threw out last night’s first pitch to David Wright from just inside the rubber.
“I would be no prospect whatsoever,” Seaver said on FOX. “Prospect too old and no life on his fastball.”
Seaver, 68, is still suffering from the effects of Lyme Disease. He also said he had yet to meet Matt Harvey, but has been “duly impressed” with the right-hander.
* The Orioles’ J.J. Hardy was the starting shortstop for the AL last night, and while Hardy is a terrific player, part of the reason he was starting almost certainly involved Derek Jeter’s injury. Said Hardy, “His season probably hasn’t gone the way he would like, and somebody had to fill in his shoes.”
* Willie Randolph is still waiting for another managerial job.
“I felt like I was successful and thought by this time I’d be back in, but I don’t look at it as anything personal,” the former Mets’ manager said. “There’s a lot of new general managers out there and maybe they’re not affiliated with certain people… I feel like I can offer something really good to an organization and my phone is always [on]. If you’re looking for a manager, I would hope my name would pop up.”
* The Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright was booed when he was introduced before last night’s game. Wainwright memorably closed out the Mets in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS and was unsure what kind of response he would get, but he anticipated it might not be good.
“I’m thinking I’m probably going to hear some boos,” he said, adding of the Game 7 memory, “I can still hear the crowd from Shea and I can still hear the silence of Shea.”
* Joe Nathan never thought he’d wind up a Met even after they expressed interest when he was a free agent before the 2012 season.
“I know they did call, but I think that call was more to say they made a call, not really to make a serious offer,” Nathan said. “We just had to see where the interest would be. Obviously playing for the Mets would have been cool. My friends would have loved it. It was the team I followed growing up, but we had to see what teams were really interested.”
Additional reporting by George A. King III, Mark Hale and Fred Kerber