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Joe Girardi outlines A-Rod’s job, expectations as spring instructor

40-year-old Alex Rodriguez will once again be on a baseball diamond in Yankees gear starting Tuesday, as he begins his next life chapter as one of the organization’s guest instructors this spring in Tampa, Fl. 

Although Rodriguez will have the opportunity to express his own thoughts in a scheduled press conference, the Yankees skipper has already outlined A-Rod’s duties. 

“He’s going to work out with players (and) extend the knowledge that he has about how to play in the game to the young kids,” Joe Girardi told NJ Advance Media at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Monday. “Some of the expectations, how to deal with it, how to deal with different positions, how to hit, how to hit in the middle of the order. All of the things that Alex did well, those are the things we want him to offer insights to the younger players and the older players.”

A-Rod’s playing time in New York came to an end on Aug. 13 at Yankee Stadium, in which he went 1-for-4 with a double against the Rays. His final appearance in pinstripes actually mirrored his first, as he also hit 1-for-4 against Tampa Bay on Opening Day back in 2004. 

Despite A-Rod’s strenuous relationship with the franchise in the midst of his Biogenesis scandal three years ago, his past actions are water under the bridge now.

As it turns out, it’s not uncommon for the Yankees to forgive, forget, and then forgive again. 

“You think about the history of this relationship, the history that I know, Mr. (George) Steinbrenner always gave people second and third chances and brought people back to the organization and did really good things for the organization,” Girardi said. “There’s situations that happen that aren’t so positive. That didn’t keep Mr. Steinbrenner from bringing back people and Hal’s doing the same thing.”

In 12 seasons with the Yankees, A-Rod hit .283/.378/.523 with 351 home runs and 1,096 runs batted in. 

If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.