Alex Rodriguez will miss at least a month — so he will be ready for the month that matters most.
Rodriguez got a second opinion yesterday and will undergo arthroscopic surgery this morning to repair the torn meniscus in his right knee, which the Yankees said will require a four-to-six-week recovery time. When the Yankees announced the timetable, it was unclear whether that included rehab.
“I think it’s good,” CC Sabathia said. “We want him to be right.”
The Post’s Joel Sherman first reported Saturday that Rodriguez was strongly leaning toward having the operation.
Rodriguez went to Miami to get a second opinion from Dr. Lee Kaplan, who concurred with Yankees doctors that surgery was the proper course of action.
“Obviously for us,” Rodriguez said Saturday, “the most important games are played at the end.”
Rodriguez had mulled trying to play through the injury the rest of the season. But it’s hard to believe the Yankees can win in the postseason without him healthy.
If A-Rod misses a full six weeks, he would be back Aug. 22, leaving him plenty of time to prepare for the playoffs.
“I’d rather have him healthy in September and October,” Russell Martin said, “than keep battling it and end up being more of an issue later on.”
Rodriguez, who will turn 36 later this month, tore the meniscus during the weekend of June 17-19, when the Yankees were at Wrigley Field. He hasn’t homered since. In fact, he hasn’t homered since June 11, a span of 85 at-bats, the longest single-season drought of his career.
Still, as Martin said, “You’re taking away one of the best hitters in the game from our lineup.”
“There’s no doubt we’re going to miss him, but we need to find a way,” Joe Girardi said. “As I’ve said several times already this year, some people are going to have to step up. Up to this point, this team has. We certainly look forward to getting a healthy Alex back into our lineup because we know what he adds to this team.”
Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner were impacted by Derek Jeter’s DL stint — with Nunez replacing Jeter at short and Gardner replacing him atop the lineup. This time, Nunez and Robinson Cano will be affected, with Nunez manning third and Cano batting cleanup.
Nunez said he feels more comfortable at shortstop than at third base, but that he’s fine at third. He’s played 11 games there this season, committing one error. Nunez, hitting .279 with three homers and 10 steals in 122 at-bats this season, said the experience of having replaced Jeter will help him now.
The Yankees might also consider promoting Triple-A third baseman Brandon Laird, and they could potentially explore adding a stopgap third baseman in a trade. Possibile trade targets include the Dodgers’ Casey Blake, the Athletics’ Kevin Kouzmanoff or Melvin Mora, recently released by the Diamondback.
In his career batting cleanup, Cano has hit .323 (43-for-133) with eight homers and 33 RBIs in 35 games.
“I’ve been there in the past,” he said, “and I’ve been doing a good job.”
mark.hale@nypost.com