Soon, that will mean the Yankees reap the benefits of their cleanup hitter's much-needed boost to the lineup. For now, there's just the cloud of controversy that circles overhead due to Rodriguez's own actions as well as a seemingly insatiable desire to detail every last one of them.

Girardi did his best to defend his player in a discussion with reporters that was tempered at times, emotional at others.

Asked about the recent New York Times report that Major League Baseball is investigating Rodriguez to see if he used performance-enhancing drugs more often than he's admitted Girardi tried saying the club was "moving on" before switching the focus to Selena Roberts' tell-all book "A-Rod" which is to be released Monday.

"I have some issues with it; that it's interesting how the book date got moved up now," Girardi said. "And I get tired of answering these questions. I don't understand why someone would write a book like this anyway. ...From the excerpts that I've read there are other negative things about his lifestyle. ...It's something I've never understood -- whether it's a book about Alex or other people. Whether it's a book about a president, I just don't understand it. Maybe that's a short-sighting on my part."

Girardi obviously has a right to his opinion as well as a desire to protect his player, but Rodriguez's distractions won't be as simple as blaming a juicy biography. It will be less simple for the Yankees to move on if the MLB investigation has any teeth, though that's questionable as well.

As usual, for better or worse, A-Rod will be the center of attention. It's the type of status he's sought his entire career only now it's reached a level even he might not have imagined.

YANKEES, ANGELS (PPD, rain): Sunday's game at Yankee Stadium was postponed due to rain. No makeup date has been announced yet.