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Following a two-year postseason absence, the New York Yankees guaranteed they’ll be playing playoff baseball in October again thanks to a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. The victory was also the 10,000th in franchise history.

According to the New York Times‘ Tyler Kepner, the game’s final out was also historic:

With the wild-card berth, New York has now made 23 more postseason appearances than any other team in MLB history, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The Yankees’ official Twitter account celebrated the evening’s other big milestone: 

Following the on-field celebration, the Yankees took to the clubhouse to pop champagne, per Baseball Tonight:

Shortstop Didi Gregorius posted a video of the festivities: 

While the Yankees got off to a modest 26-25 start, they hit their stride during the dog days of summer. After going 15-12 in June, New York walloped the competition to the tune of a 17-7 mark in July. During that stretch, the Yankees batted a season-best .275 with a collective .344 on-base percentage while ascending to the top of the American League East.

A 14-14 August that coincided with the Toronto Blue Jays‘ 21-6 post-trade-deadline explosion brought the men in pinstripes down a peg, but they stayed competitive and banged down the postseason barrier. 

Buoyed by stellar power, New York has been one of baseball’s elite teams when it comes to pushing runs across the plate.

Back from a season-long performance-enhancing-drug suspension, Alex Rodriguez assumed vintage form and provided a jolt by crushing more than 30 home runs for the first time since 2010. In July, A-Rod spoke to Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci about his comeback:

One thing I’ve been this year is consistent. Even in my really good years, I’d have some periods—two, three weeks—where I just looked terrible. It was always because of tension, trying too hard. Now I’m just happy and relaxed. I’ve been more consistent because of that.

Mark Teixeira also boosted the Yankees’ offerings at the plate before a right shin fracture ended his season early. In 111 games, Teixeira batted .255 with 31 home runs—his most since 2011. However, the Yankees were able to plug Greg Bird into the lineup and receive more than 40 dingers combined from their starting first basemen.

Coupled with Carlos Beltran’s improved production during his second season in pinstripes, the team evolved into an offensive powerhouse.

Entering the postseason, the Yankees’ primary concern will be their ability to keep the runs flowing while finding sources of consistency on the mound. Manager Joe Girardi’s club ranks around the league average in ERA, and shaky, injury-riddled seasons from CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka have left the team without a true starting ace.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi started to look like a workhorse after the All-Star break, but elbow inflammation cut his regular season short. Now the Yankees hope the 25-year-old can return in time to offer stability in some capacity.

And even if question marks abound, the Yankees and their fans can celebrate a return to the postseason as they prep for a wild-card showdown next Tuesday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).

A trip back to the American League Championship Series may fall on the optimistic end of the spectrum, but with a power-packed lineup that can put up runs in a hurry, New York has the raw talent to pull off a stunner.

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NEW YORK — Masahiro Tanaka made it through the regular season without needing Tommy John surgery, so that’s something. He made it through his final regular-season start with his hamstring intact—another positive.

“I feel good about him,” New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday night, suggesting but not yet announcing that Tanaka will be his starter in next week’s American League Wild Card Game (because the Yankees still haven’t clinched their spot).

He should feel good, but the manager of a team with a $200-plus million payroll really ought to have a guy he feels great about when he’s faced with one game he absolutely has to win. Someone like Jake Arrieta or Gerrit Cole—the two guys who figure to start the National League Wild Card Game—or Dallas Keuchel, the guy who would start against Tanaka at Yankee Stadium if the Houston Astros make it to the AL game.

Tanaka was that guy for three months last year, before he got hurt. He’s not that guy now.

He can be very good. Don’t forget he allowed just three runs in 22 innings in three late-season starts versus the Toronto Blue Jays or that his August-September ERA was 2.79 before Wednesday.

He’s still the best choice the Yankees have to start a must-win game. He just doesn’t feel as automatic as you’d like in a game you can’t afford to lose.

“Vanilla” was the way one scout in attendance put it Wednesday, when Tanaka allowed a three-run first-inning home run to Boston’s Travis Shaw and ended up giving up four runs in five innings of the Yankees’ 9-5, 11-inning loss to the Red Sox.

“Not a disaster, certainly adequate,” the scout said. “But he was a pitchability/contact guy with no plus pitches tonight.”

Girardi and Tanaka could easily dismiss Wednesday’s results because of an 11-day layoff caused by Tanaka’s hamstring strain. He was rusty, he didn’t have his good split-finger fastball (he hung the one that Shaw blasted for a home run), and a normal schedule between now and Tuesday will help.

“I think it was a good sign I was able to come out of this game strong,” Tanaka said through his interpreter. “[The problems with the split] may have had something to do with the layoff. I think it’ll be better next time.”

The Yankees could have clinched their playoff spot with a win Wednesday, but they lost to the Red Sox for a third straight night. With Mark Teixeira out for the year and with Alex Rodriguez and others starting to look worn down (although A-Rod homered Wednesday), the Yankees aren’t the offensive powerhouse they were earlier in the season.

They’ll need big performances from some of their starting pitchers, and there’s every chance they’ll need a big performance from Tanaka next Tuesday.

“I don’t know if it would be the biggest game I’ve pitched,” said Tanaka, who once threw 160 pitches in a Japan Series Game 6 and came back the next day to save Game 7. “Absolutely, it’ll be a big game.”

Tanaka has a big-game attitude, a toughness that is especially evident on nights like Wednesday, when he is forced to battle. Even with diminished stuff, he’s a safer choice for the Wild Card Game than rookie Luis Severino, who looks like a future ace but has started just 10 major league games. He’s a safer choice than CC Sabathia, who has the same toughness but even more diminished stuff.

Tanaka’s fastball averaged 92.1 mph Wednesday, according to BrooksBaseball.net. While that’s not far off from where it has been for much of this season, it’s a tick down from where he was in his exciting first month with the Yankees.

Since then, of course, Tanaka has had to deal with a partially torn ligament in his right elbow. He has proven that it was a good choice to put off Tommy John surgery and that he can be a successful pitcher with what he takes to the mound now.

“We’ve been very pleased with the way he’s thrown the ball,” Girardi said Wednesday afternoon. “I think he’s had a very good second year.”

He ends the regular season with a 12-7 record and a 3.51 ERA, and the other numbers aren’t bad, either.

He’s a very good pitcher, but in a game you have to win, you’d rather count on a great pitcher.

Can the Yankees depend on him? Next week, they’ll have little choice.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball. 

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The pick-an-ace game of chance will not work in October.

The New York Yankees need a definitive answer. But for nearly six months, that all-important No. 1 spot in the rotation has been a revolving door of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately candidates, none of which have been able to keep the position in their grasps for what seems like more than a couple of weeks at a time because of ineffectiveness, injuries or both. 

Even through patches of injuries and inconsistency, Masahiro Tanaka has been considered the team’s best option to start any big October game, whether it be one in the final days of the regular season, a wild-card play-in or Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Of the starters who have been with the team all season, the Japanese right-hander leads the Yankees with a 3.38 ERA, 0.987 WHIP and 118 ERA+, showing he has been mostly good this season when healthy.

His health, however, is his biggest obstacle. His latest problem is a right hamstring strain suffered on Sept. 18. He was feeling discomfort in it as late as Friday, and the Yankees now do not know when, or if, he will take the ball before the end of the regular season. It was announced Sunday that if Tanaka cannot take the mound by Thursday, he won’t start again before the playoffs, when he would likely be called upon for a one-game wild-card sudden death likely to happen at Yankee Stadium.

If Tanaka does not pitch again until the postseason, that would be 18 days between starts, the second one coming on Oct. 6 in the franchise’s most important game since 2012. If he is not 100 percent healthy, or effective, his team’s playoff chances are put in real jeopardy.

No doubt #Yankees want to get Tanaka at least a tune-up start before Tues WC game, but have to balance how he feels too. Clock ticking.

— David Lennon (@DPLennon) September 26, 2015

“I know everyone wants an answer, but it’s really not that simple because of his value to us moving forward,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters, via Grace Raynor of MLB.com. “It’s something you have to weigh. Is it worth the risk maybe moving it up a day or two days if you need him, to what could possibly happen? It’s a careful situation that we’re trying to manage. I wish I knew, really.” 

Before Tanaka, who could pitch out of the bullpen if he does not make a start by Thursday, hurt his hamstring running to first base in a game against the New York Mets, he was pitching like the ace the Yankees figured him to be when they signed him for $155 million over seven years. In his last eight starts, he had a 2.60 ERA, including two dominant outings against the Toronto Blue Jays in which he combined to allow one run with 15 strikeouts across 16 innings.

That kind of production gives the Yankees an arm that can match up with any the other wild-card contenders might throw at them, including Houston’s Dallas Keuchel, Texas’ Cole Hamels or whoever the Los Angeles Angels or Minnesota Twins might decide to trot out there. The problem, of course, is Tanaka’s availability, or his sharpness in the safe assumption that he is ready to pitch in that game.

“I don’t think we’re there yet. I’m not ready to talk anything about that yet,” Tanaka told reporters through an interpreter, via Raynor. “As for now, for me, I’m just happy with the way I’m progressing.”

If the Yankees are not comfortable throwing Tanaka in his first postseason game on 18 days of rest, they have another option, though one that is less proven—21-year-old rookie Luis Severino, who has a 2.77 ERA in 10 major league starts after he pitched six shutout innings Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.

If Tanaka’s not ready for the wild card game — he likely will be — then Severino would be a good choice, eh? You know, if it goes that way

— Anthony McCarron (@AnthonyMcCarron) September 27, 2015

“I would be happy to, of course,” Severino told reporters Sunday, via Newsday‘s Neil Best.

The Yankees don’t want to be forced into that alternative, obviously. Not because Severino has not demonstrated his value, because he has. And part of the reason they made sure to limit him in his 19 minor league starts was so they could keep him fresh for September and October in the majors.

But that Wild Card Game is exactly the kind of start the Yankees envisioned Tanaka making when they signed him. For the better part of the last two seasons, he has shown, when healthy, he is the kind of pitcher who should get the ball in a do-or-die scenario.

The problem is getting him prepared for it. Hamstrings are temperamental; they act up without notice. And that is beside the fact that keeping Tanaka sharp after nearly three weeks of nonaction seems fairly improbable even for a front-line starter.

In order for the Yankees to advance, though, the hamstring and the stuff have to be ever-present. If not, the franchise’s return to the postseason might last just a few hours.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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NEW YORK — Over in the National League, the Wild Card Game matchup seemed set weeks ago.

Here in the American League, no one wants to acknowledge that any part of it is set yet.

“I think it’s still too early,” New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Thursday, when someone asked who he might start in the AL Wild Card Game. “Because nothing’s decided yet.”

Technically, he’s right. Realistically, the Yankees are headed for baseball’s one-game, do-or-die round for the first time in their history, and the question that matters more than anything is whether they’re set up to win it.

And the answer is, that depends.

It depends on whether Masahiro Tanaka is healthy enough to pitch (the Yankees say they expect he will be). It depends on which team the Yankees face (too close to say).

The Yankees hold a comfortable lead for the first wild-card spot and the chance to host the October 6 game. The race for the second spot is so close that my friends Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com both wrote stories Thursday explaining what will happen if there’s a two- or three-way tie.

That’s good for the Yankees (although a three-way tie would push the Wild Card Game to October 7, the day before the Division Series begins). Even better would be the Minnesota Twins emerging as the second wild-card team, however it happens.

The Twins have a long history of losing in New York. They also have the small problem that the guy who is pitching best for them—Ervin Santana, 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA over five starts since August 30—is ineligible for the postseason because of his April drug suspension.

The Twins would come to New York without a true No. 1 starter. The Houston Astros could show up with Dallas Keuchel, who might win the American League Cy Young (and who threw seven shutout innings at Yankee Stadium just last month). The Los Angeles Angels fall somewhere in between.

The Yankees believe they have a true No. 1, but only if Tanaka can pitch. He missed Wednesday’s scheduled start in Toronto with a hamstring strain, and the Yankees still haven’t said when he’ll pitch next.

“I’d be surprised if he’s not available in the near future,” Girardi said, adding after the game that Tanaka got a good update Thursday from the Yankees’ doctor.

Tanaka’s recent form has been good (a 1.29 ERA in his last three starts). He has shown the ability to control a game against a good lineup (seven shutout innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 13).

“He can be a dominant pitcher,” Yankees closer Andrew Miller said.

And the Yankees wouldn’t need him to pitch nine innings. Their bullpen depth has become a big concern, but in the postseason they should have Adam Warren in the bullpen along with Miller, Dellin Betances and Justin Wilson.

“They only need five innings from the starter,” said one rival scout who has been following the Yankees. “Betances would pitch the sixth and seventh, and Miller the eighth and ninth.”

All they need to do is get a lead. And that’s where it should help that they’ll be playing at home.

The Yankees are built for their ballpark. For the season, they’ve hit 108 home runs in 74 home games.

“If you don’t think our lineup is built to play here, you’re naive,” Miller said.

They’ll take their chances. If it comes down to one game to save their season—and it sure looks like it will—the Yankees believe they’ll be in good position to win it.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure the team we’d be playing would feel the same way,” Miller said.

History won’t tell you much. The Wild Card Game is only in its fourth year, and no real patterns have developed yet.

Teams have won with true aces (Madison Bumgarner for the San Francisco Giants last year in Pittsburgh), and without them (Joe Saunders won for the Baltimore Orioles in 2012 in Texas). Two games were shutouts, and one finished 9-8 in 12 innings (Kansas City over Oakland, last year).

Road teams have won four of the six games, but any team involved would still tell you they’d rather play at home.

Actually, every team in it would tell you they’d rather have avoided it, that they wish they’d finished in first place and advanced straight to the division series.

The Yankees were in that spot earlier this week. Technically, they still are, although after two losses in three games in Toronto, it’s clear that being in the best shape for the Wild Card Game has also become a major concern.

“We need to win games,” Girardi said, before pausing and adding, “and we’ve got to keep guys healthy.”

If they keep the guys they have now healthy, they should have a real chance. If they get Tanaka healthy, they should have an even better chance.

If they get the right opponent, they should have the best chance of all.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball. 

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Legendary New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra died of natural causes at the age of 90 Tuesday night at his home in New Jersey.

News of Berra’s death came via the Yogi Berra Museum, and the Yankees’ official Twitter feed paid tribute to their iconic player:

Berra’s family released a statement via the museum: “While we mourn the loss of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, we know he is at peace with Mom. We celebrate his remarkable life and are thankful he meant so much to so many. He will truly be missed.”

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also released a statement on Berra’s passing:

Berra, who was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1972, will be remembered as one of the Yankees’ greatest players. As a player, he played a major part as the club won 10 World Series—five in consecutive years—and was named an All-Star 15 times during his remarkable career. He added three more rings as a coach with the Mets (1969) and Yankees (1977, 1978).

In addition, Berra was named the American League‘s MVP three times: 1951, 1954 and 1955. The Yankees retired his No. 8 jersey in 1972 after he finished his 19-year career with a .285 batting average, 358 home runs and 1,430 RBI.

MLB’s official Twitter feed paid its respects to a true great of the game:

Yankees legend Derek Jeter issued a statement on The Players’ Tribune paying tribute to Berra:

To those who didn’t know Yogi personally, he was one of the greatest baseball players and Yankees of all time. To those lucky ones who did, he was an even better person. To me he was a dear friend and mentor. He will always be remembered for his success on the field, but I believe his finest quality was how he treated everyone with sincerity and kindness. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Away from the field, Berra shined, coining such gems as “It ain’t over ’til it’s over” and “It’s like deja vu all over again,” among many more.

Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick paid tribute to the man and his pearls of wisdom, which became known as “Yogi-isms”:

Berra also fought for his country in World War II with the Navy, landing on D-Day at the Battle of Normandy as a 19-year-old in the Yankees’ minor league system. The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Chris Hatcher made reference to Berra’s military service in his tribute:

Berra’s influence went beyond the playing field. Samuel L. Jackson, for instance, recounted some fond time spent with the Yankees man:

Fellow Hall of Famer and former Yankees right fielder Dave Winfield also took to social media to express his sadness:

Berra will be remembered as not only a baseball giant but a sporting one. His career achievements on the field speak for themselves, but the manner in which people gravitated to him away from the game is the measure of a man who will be revered as a baseball immortal and an American icon.

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How huge (pun sort of intended) would some vintage CC Sabathia be for the New York Yankees down the stretch?

Yes, the hulking left-hander sports a less-than-stellar 4.80 ERA. And yes, he’s an injury-plagued 35-year-old with a creaky right knee.

After two straight solid starts by the six-time All-Star and 2007 American League Cy Young-winner, though, the Yankees can be forgiven for dreaming big.

On Sunday against the New York Mets, in the rubber match of a Subway Series ripe with playoff implications, Sabathia tossed six innings of five-hit, one-run ball with seven strikeouts.

He also picked up his first win since July 8 as New York rolled 11-2, which nudged the Yankees to within 2.5 games of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.

New York and Toronto will clash beginning Monday in a monumental three-game set north of the border. Sabathia won’t pitch in any of those contests, but with the way he’s been going, the Yanks probably wish he could.

Sabathia’s mini-resurgence also includes a game Sept. 14 that saw him put up zeroes for 6.2 frames against the Tampa Bay Rays, striking out six and throwing a season-high 111 pitches.

“I thought his sinker was tremendous tonight,” skipper Joe Girardi told reporters after that appearance. “It just had a lot of movement on it. I thought he used his breaking ball extremely well…he came up big for us and gave us a ton of distance.”

Sabathia returned from the disabled list Sept. 9 and began wearing a knee brace that the New York Post‘s Fred Kerber said the southpaw “once viewed as acceptable as eating poached sand.”

“It feels good,” Sabathia said after his first go-round with the brace, per Kerber. “In the middle of the first inning, once I got over that mental hurdle it held up great and my knee felt fine, so I’m excited about it.”

New York should be equally excited, particularly considering the state of its rotation.

Ace Masahiro Tanaka will miss at least one start, against Toronto, with a hamstring strain, per ESPN’s Wallace Matthews. And hard-throwing right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is out for the remainder of the regular season, and quite possibly beyond, with elbow inflammation.

The rest of the bunch—Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova and rookie Luis Severino—are an uneasy mix of inconsistent and untested.

That leaves a void at the top of the Yankees’ starting corps. The depth of their rotation will only matter if they get past the Wild Card Game, either by winning it or catching the Blue Jays. But assuming New York advances to the division series, it’ll need another starter or two to seize the moment.

Sabathia certainly has experience. He’s pitched in the postseason in six separate seasons, with the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers and four times with the Yankees, including a title run in 2009 when he won American League Championship Series MVP honors.

His recent track record, however, is less than sterling. He pitched just 46 innings in 2014 while posting a career-worst 5.28 ERA, and he surrendered a major league-leading 112 earned runs  in 2013.

Entering 2015, it was worth wondering if Sabathia could ever regain his old form. In August, when Sabathia landed on the disabled list with knee inflammation, Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media questioned whether he’d ever pitch again.

Now, after avoiding surgery and making a couple of encouraging trips to the hill, he’s teasing the old CC. The good CC. The clock hasn’t turned back yet, but the gears are churning.

Assuming the Yankees end up in the one-game, do-or-die wild-card showdown, they’d surely throw out Tanaka if he’s healthy. But if the Yankees win that game—had the season ended Sunday, their opponent would have been the Houston Astros—would Sabathia be the man to start Game 1 of the division series?

It would have been an improbable notion a few weeks ago—laughable, even. Now, it’s entirely plausible. 

At the very least, expect Sabathia to burn what’s left in the tank the rest of the way. “I’m not going to back off or anything,” he said during his stint on the DL back in late August, per George A. King III of the New York Post. “It’s not that time for that.”

It is, on the other hand, time for a playoff run in the Bronx. And, perhaps, for CC Sabathia to come up huge—just like he did during New York’s sprint to a Commissioner’s Trophy a half-dozen years ago.

All statistics current as of Sept. 20 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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The New York Yankees pitching staff took a hit Sunday when the team announced Masahiro Tanaka will miss Wednesday’s start with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain.     

Continue for updates. 

Ivan Nova to Take Tanaka’s Start

Sunday, Sept. 20

While any injury to a pitcher of Tanaka’s quality is a concern, the silver lining for the Yankees is the severity of the setback. Buster Olney of ESPN noted New York hopes the pitcher only misses one start.

Tanaka missed more than one month from late April to early June because of a forearm strain. But his ERA sits at a solid 3.38, and he boasts an impressive 0.99 WHIP. 

His inconsistencies in the health department were compounded by the fact that CC Sabathia missed a large portion of 2015 with a knee injury. Michael Pineda also missed time, and Ivan Nova is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery last year. 

The Yankees have been able to stay in the American League East and wild-card races despite all of the problems with their starting rotation, but given how well the Toronto Blue Jays have been playing since acquiring David Price, they likely have their eyes on a wild-card spot.

Ideally, Tanaka will return after only one missed start and be fresh for a postseason run in October.

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With the New York Yankees attempting to make their way into the postseason, everyone is wondering who would be the best and worst matchups for the team. 

Where do the Yankees stand against the New York Mets? Who do the Yankees stand a solid chance against?

Find out in the above video as Adam Lefkoe and Bleacher Report MLB Analyst Scott Miller break down the best and worst possible matches for the Yankees. 

All Stats Accurate for Games Played Through 9/14

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New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee after undergoing an MRI on Tuesday.

Continue for updates.

A-Rod Has Bone Bruise, Still Playing

Tuesday, Sept. 15 

Rodriguez, 40, suffered the injury in Sunday’s 5-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, per George A. King III of the New York Post. He was in the lineup again Monday after the team traveled to Tampa Bay, knocking in a game-tying RBI as the Yankees pulled off a ninth-inning comeback against the Rays. New York listed him as the designated hitter for Tuesday night.  

While still one of the most controversial players in the sport, Rodriguez has been a revelation for the Yankees in 2015. He’s hitting .257/.359/.501 with 31 home runs and 82 RBI heading into Tuesday night—both numbers at or near the team lead. The former All-Star has also kept a low-profile demeanor for most of the season, something he and the Yankees needed after a whirlwind 2014. 

The former MVP missed the entire 2014 regular season because of a performance-enhancing drug suspension. He was limited to just 44 games in the two seasons prior to 2015 because of the suspension and a degenerative hip condition.

Once viewed among the best players in baseball history, Rodriguez’s injury issues and actions off the field had turned him into a pariah throughout the sport—even in his own clubhouse. 

Now, the Yankees clubhouse likely realizes how much it needs him. With Mark Teixeira out for the remainder of the season, Rodriguez is arguably New York’s most dangerous hitter. If you told fans that at the beginning of the season, they’d most likely be envisioning a doomsday scenario. 

With A-Rod at the center of a team in contention for a division crown, however, their fingers are crossed that this injury doesn’t linger.   

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.

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NEW YORK — The ceremony will be simple, the New York Yankees say.

Nothing elaborate. No special guests. Just a nice little acknowledgement of what Alex Rodriguez did by reaching 3,000 hits.

Simple…as if anything with Rodriguez can ever be simple.

Just like what the Yankees did after Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, except with A-Rod, nothing can be just like Jeter.

Look, this shouldn’t even be a big story. A guy gets 3,000 hits, and his team honors him. Except in this case, the guy is Alex Rodriguez, and the team is the one he was working on suing this time last year.

And now the Yankees are going to honor him? Well, as a matter of fact, yes, they are.

Not grudgingly, either.

“I think it’s a wonderful gesture, what the club is doing,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Friday. “And I look forward to it.”

The ceremony will take place Sunday, before the Yankees game against the Toronto Blue Jays, a mere 86 days after A-Rod got to 3,000 with a June 19 home run off Detroit‘s Justin Verlander. The Yankees say the gap was a matter of scheduling, and Rodriguez seems too pleased that it’s happening to be concerned about why it’s happening now.

“I think it’s amazing, truly classy by the Steinbrenners and the Yankees organization,” he said last month, per George A. King III of the New York Post, when the date was announced.

Does he really believe that? This is A-Rod, so you never know for sure. But in this case, it seems like he does.

This ceremony could celebrate the dramatic turnaround in the relationship between the Yankees and the player they so often wished would just go away. It wouldn’t be right to say A-Rod is now a beloved star, or even that everyone in the organization likes him, but he has traveled the road from hated to tolerated and now all the way to accepted.

“He’s been great in the clubhouse, and great on the field,” said general manager Brian Cashman, who in other times wasn’t shy about making his negative A-Rod feelings known. “Everything’s been perfect.”

In the past, even the smallest A-Rod issue could become a huge controversy. This year, even the big issues became small. For all the talk about how the dispute over the home run milestone bonuses in Rodriguez’s contract could get ugly, the two sides ended up settling amicably, compromising on the amount of money and agreeing to donate it to charity.

That decision, announced July 3, came right when the Yankees had worked to get the ball back from the 3,000th hit. It was at that point, team officials say, the thaw in relations became real and Sunday’s ceremony became possible.

It’s real enough now that there’s no reason to think this ceremony will be a one-off occasion. Assuming there are no controversies to come (never a totally safe assumption with A-Rod), the Yankees say they’d be open to honoring Rodriguez again for future accomplishments.

None of this would have happened, of course, if Rodriguez weren’t having the season he has had. For one thing, there probably wouldn’t have been a 3,000th hit to celebrate. A season that began with him batting seventh on Opening Day (and not guaranteed an everyday lineup spot) is ending with him batting third or fifth on most nights for a team headed for the playoffs.

He hit his 30th home run of the season this past Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles. While it gave A-Rod 15 seasons with 30 or more, tying Hank Aaron’s major league record, it was the first time since 2010 he had hit that many.

He has 684 career home runs, and while the steroid cloud will never completely leave him alone, it’s once again possible to discuss his accomplishments without immediately mentioning his failures.

“Life moves on,” Cashman said. “Somebody once told me it’ll all be OK in the end, and if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”

For A-Rod and the Yankees, it’s not the end. For now, though, as Sunday’s ceremony proves, it is all OK.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball. 

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