Alex Rodriguez admitted it was a mistake trying to play last weekend in Cleveland with a right quadriceps injury. His penalty for that miscalculation is 15 days on the disabled list starting last night.
“The curse of being a good healer is I thought I was ready in three days,” said Rodriguez, who first sustained the injury in Baltimore.
“I made it worse. But if you ask me if I could play tonight, I’ll go out there tonight. I’ll play until I’m dead.”
Rodriguez has a Grade 2 strain, but is confident he’ll be activated in two weeks. He blames nobody but himself for his situation.
“I wanted to play,” he said before the Yanks’ 6-2 loss to the Tigers. “I begged to get in there. The team had nothing to do with it. They gave me every chance to get out of there.”
Rodriguez said he most felt the strain when trying to break from the batter’s box. It was in Cleveland that he aggravated the injury while breaking from the box.
“It’s painful to see that lineup without me in the cleanup spot,” Rodriguez said. “We’re at a time where we need a full roster and my biggest goal is to be out there every day.”
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After consulting with doctors, Brian Bruney has decided against having season ending surgery to correct the Lisfranc problem in his right foot. The right-hander will wear a boot on his foot for the next month and then begin rehab with the hopes of returning by August.
Jorge Posada is slated to meet with Dr. David Altcheck today, at which time a final decision is expected to be reached on whether the catcher will need surgery for the right shoulder strain that has him on the DL.
Chad Moeller cleared waivers and rejoined the Yankees as their backup catcher. Moeller, who signed to a one-year major-league contract yesterday, was with the Yankees earlier in the month, but designated for assignment when Posada was cleared to begin catching again. He had been home in Arizona when he heard Posada was headed to the DL.
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The Yankees recalled reliever Chris Britton from Scranton to take Rodriguez’s roster spot . . . Catcher Chris Stewart was optioned to Scranton and pitcher Sean Henn was designated for assignment.