A-Rod thumb issue still lingering

Here’s a bit of news from Wally Matthews that came out about half an hour ago:

“General manager Brian Cashman acknowledged Thursday what has seemed obvious for the past few weeks: The New York Yankees are more likely to carry through the postseason than the other way around, because the third baseman’s thumb is still hurting.

‘He’s got a Grade I sprain and it’s not going to go away completely this season,’ Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com. ‘It only goes away with time which is not something that’s necessarily in our favor.’”

I don’t know that this is entirely surprising given the touch-and-go nature of Alex’s latest ailment, but it’s still mildly distressing that the Yankees are basically admitting that whenever they’re ready to put A-Rod back in the lineup he’s probably not going to be 100% for the remainder of the season.

“On Wednesday, manager expressed optimism that A-Rod, who has not played since Sept. 9, would be in the lineup when the Yankees open a three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto Friday night. But Rodriguez seemed less sure about his prospects of playing on Friday.

‘I don’t want to mislead you guys, but I haven’t touched a bat in five days,’ he said. ‘Maybe (Girardi) is more confident than me. Hopefully, that plan works out.’”

Hearing Alex say that makes it seem highly unlikely we’ll be seeing him tomorrow, and maybe not even until next week, depending on how things progress. Of course, in theory resting Alex until he’s 100% sounds great, and I certainly wouldn’t want Alex to do anything to reaggravate the injury and potentially miss the playoffs, but they’re also running out of games to play and he’s going to need to be in game-ready shape for the ALDS two weeks from tomorrow.

“Cashman said Rodriguez’s injury was not likely to require offseason surgery.

‘It’s a sprained collateral ligament and it’s more of an irritating thing than anything else,’ he said. ‘It could take six days, or 15 days, or 30 days, and even if he feels 100 percent, one wrong move or one bad swing or checked swing or dive or whatever could bring it right back to square one again. It’s just something he’s going to have to deal with.’”

This is a tough spot to be in — a currently flagging Yankee offense could really use the boost from his bat, but if he’s not 100% who knows how much of a boost A-Rod will even be able to provide. Based on Cashman’s and Alex’s comments, it sounds like he should probably sit the Toronto series out — maybe even the Minnesota make-up game on Monday — and hopefully the thumb will then be as close to ready as it can be for the four-gamer against the Rays starting Tuesday.