Cashman expects A-Rod to return to Yankees

General manager Brian Cashman said the team had no intention of trading Alex Rodriguez, who failed to drive in a run in the playoffs for the second straight year and was dropped to eighth in the batting order.

"I fully expect him to be here," Cashman said Tuesday. "We're going to figure this thing out together."

Earlier, Torre said he would return as manager for his 12th season.

Rodriguez, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, struggled during his third season with the Yankees and was booed throughout the year by fans at Yankee Stadium. Cashman revealed that teams inquired about Rodriguez's availability up until the July 31 deadline to make trades without waivers.

"The first one I got hit on was late May, I think, or early June and then it got real heavy in the deadline period," Cashman said.

Right after Saturday night's loss eliminated the Yankees, Cashman received an e-mail inquiry from a team.

"I wanted to message back: 'Buzzard,'" Cashman said, adding that he expects to receive more offers during the offseason and intends to turn them down.

Rodriguez, the reigning AL MVP, hit .290 with 35 homers and 121 RBI, and his 24 errors were the most among AL third basemen. He went 1-for-14 (.071) in the first-round playoff loss to Detroit and is 4-for-41 (.098) with no RBI in his last 12 postseason games.

In New York, where the Yankees are always in the spotlight, Rodriguez has at times seemed uncomfortable in a clubhouse filled with other big stars. Torre said Rodriguez still feels the need to be the central run-producer, even though he has powerful hitters next to him in the lineup.

Even in an "off year" for Rodriguez, his run production was among baseball's best.

"I know there would be interest in him. There's no denying that. He's a very talented player," Cashman said. "Despite the difficult times that he's experienced here, people see the results and know that he's fighting not just the pitcher on the mound, he's fighting a lot more than that at times."

After the Yankees were eliminated Saturday, Rodriguez said he wanted to stay with the team.

He is owed, in effect, $66.6 million by New York over the last four seasons of his record $252 million, 10-year contract. Rodriguez receives $95 million, with the Yankees getting $28.4 million from Texas to offset part of that.

"Alex Rodriguez is one of the important pieces to this puzzle here," Torre said. "He is a human being and there's a lot of times that he's not perceived that way. The fact of the matter is that he'll never be able to be compared to other people because, probably, [of] the enormity of his ability."

Cashman didn't think Rodriguez was angry about being dropped to eighth in the batting order in Game 4. He batted sixth in Games 1 and 2, and cleanup in Game 3.

"I don't know if there is an issue from Alex's perspective about batting eighth. I haven't talked to him about it," Cashman said. "I know one thing that we try to do is check all egos at the door when it comes to who should play and when they should play, where they bat."

Scott Boras, Rodriguez's agent, didn't return a call seeking comment. Cashman said if there was lingering disagreement, Rodriguez and Torre would have to settle it.

"If there is an issue with Alex, then they've got to make it right," Cashman said.


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