NEW YORK _ These may be Alex Rodriguez's final days in pinstripes, a notion he accepts. But he's also committed to helping the new wave of Yankees _ if management allows him to complete his contract.
"I know that the organization has a brighter future today than it did last week, and hopefully I'm part of that equation," Rodriguez said before Tuesday night's Yankees-Mets Subway Series game at Citi Field. "But if not, I can accept it very clearly."
Rodriguez, 41, hasn't been in the lineup at Citi Field, where the games are played without use of the designated hitter.
But he's struggled to find any at-bats in the past month, and there are no assurances of his playing time _ even with Carlos Beltran traded to the Rangers.
Gary Sanchez could be up as early as Wednesday, and Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin are waiting in the wings at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
"Whatever they do, I'm at peace with myself," said A-Rod, who has one more season and $21 million remaining on his massive contact.
"I'm one of the luckiest human beings on the planet. I respect everything (GM Brian) Cashman's doing, I trust (owner) Hal Steinbrenner's plan. I forever will be a Yankee fan. I hope I can contribute. I hope I can stay here (through 2017)."
Speaking on Michael Kay's ESPN radio show Tuesday, Steinbrenner said he hadn't discussed the buying out of A-Rod's remaining contract.
"I haven't discussed with the baseball people anything about what we're going to be doing in the hours and days to come," Steinbrenner said. "The last two weeks have been about trades, trades, trades.
"We're going to look at what we're going to do ... and we'll analyze everything and look at all options. But it hasn't been done yet."
Pressed on A-Rod's Yankee future, Steinbrenner said: "My job is to do what's best for the organization, for our fan's sake, to do what's best for the organization and the team overall. That's always going to be my focus."
