Girardi still preparing for A-Rod's return to Yankees

LOS ANGELES -- Despite reports from multiple media outlets indicating that Alex Rodriguez will soon be disciplined by Major League Baseball, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday that he still expects to have Rodriguez back on the big league roster at some point in the near future.

"We have him scheduled for a rehab on Thursday -- a game somewhere if everything goes OK," Girardi said. "If we didn't think he was going to be with us, we wouldn't do those things."

Rodriguez took batting practice at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday as he continues to rest and rehabilitate a Grade 1 strain of his left quadriceps. He did not speak to reporters upon exiting.

Girardi said that he had not been told of the specifics regarding what sort of game Rodriguez would participate in on Thursday, but it could be of the simulated variety at the Tampa complex.