A-Rod says he is cleared to play in rehab games; Yanks' GM tells him to shut up

Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez says he has been cleared to play in rehab games. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was all too happy to share the news via social media that his hip surgeon had cleared him to play in rehabilitation games.

Rodriguez had left hip surgery on Jan. 16 and has been rehabbing at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., even taking swings in a simulated game situation on Monday.

On Tuesday night, he tweeted the message, "Visit from Dr. Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news - the green light to play games again!" along with a photo of himself and Dr. Brian Kelly, who performed his operation.

But once Yankees general manager Brian Cashman got wind of what Rodriguez said about his rehab progress, he was not too pleased, to say the least.

"You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, [we will]," Cashman told ESPN.com. "Alex should just shut the f--- up. That's it. I'm going to call Alex now."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday that no date had been set for Rodriguez to start playing in minor league rehab games. Rodriguez is expected to return to the team around the All-Star break.

Cashman said yesterday that Rodriguez had not been cleared by our doctors to play in rehab games yet.

"He's getting closer, there's no doubt about it, but we don't have a date for him to start playing games yet. It could be July 1. It could also be July 5, or maybe June 25," he said.

https://twitter.com/AROD/status/349668933797818368