TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez has questions he is trying to answer every day, mostly revolving around whether he can ever be a productive major league player again. But, he doesn’t have the answers.
Then there is today — when Rodriguez will meet with MLB officials in Tampa regarding his connection to Tony Bosch, the Biogenesis clinic and performance-enhancing drugs — when the controversy-magnet knows every single answer, but is unlikely to divulge any information, just like fellow former MVP Ryan Braun, who according to ESPN, refused to answer any questions during a recent meeting with baseball officials about the case.
“We’ve been fully instructed not to comment on that case,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
Rodriguez, who could face a 100-game suspension as soon as sometime after the All-Star break — a ban that which, almost certainly, would then go through the appeals process — will no longer have the day off and is scheduled to play third base for the Single-A Tampa Yankees in his seventh rehab game, following last night’s rainout at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Rodriguez cleanly fielded a ground ball on the second pitch of the game, throwing a bouncer to first for the out, but a downpour began immediately after the top of the first inning, with the game’s cancellation coming more than an hour later.
Rodriguez, who declined to speak to the media yesterday, said on Wednesday he had planned on playing in Tampa at least through Sunday, but a rain-filled weekend forecast could alter his schedule once more.
Though Rodriguez, 2-for-15 in the minors, had his best game on Wednesday, going 1-for-3 with his first RBI, general manager Brian Cashman said yesterday the third baseman will play out the entirety of his rehab assignment and will not rejoin the Yankees before July 22 in Texas.
“In his case, I think I stated in the beginning of his rehab process, he would go the full 20 days,” Cashman said. “He’s in the middle of his rehab process and it’s going to go to the end. He’s coming off a very complicated [hip] surgery.
“There’s a reason he’s in A-ball. There was a reason we were able to put Derek [Jeter] in Triple-A right from the start. Derek was obviously much further along than where Alex was.
“I think [Wednesday] was probably the best day of Alex’s rehab so far, as reported to me from our people.”
Cashman said he hasn’t had any discussions with other team officials about when Rodriguez might be elevated to a higher minor league level.
“He’s doing what he’s doing, moving up a level hasn’t come up yet,” Cashman said. “I know when we talked, the process initially we felt the first 10 days would be split between Charleston and Tampa, and then we’d revisit it. Weather has to play a role. We’d evaluate after 10 days where he was at, as well as weather opportunities in Trenton, Scranton and Staten Island.”
Additional reporting
by Dan Martin
howard.kussoy@nypost.com