Well, a lot has happened in 24 hours, especially in the world of the Yankees.



The team and Alex Rodriguez, in conjuction with Dr. Marc Phillipon in Vail, Colo., have decided their best option was less invasive surgery. Instead of four months, A-Rod will miss 6-10 weeks. Obviously, this puts the Yankees in a much better position and gives them a much different set of options regarding how to replace his production.



The first and most likely option is to use a guy like Cody Ransom for the first month and a half. He's shown himself this spring, and in a small stint with the Yanks last season, to be an at least adequate replacement for A-Rod. As a matter of fact, Ransom went yard in his first two at-bats as a Yankee. Other in-house options include Angel Berroa, former Mariners farmhand Justin Leone and Triple-A third baseman Eric Duncan, a former top Yankees prospect.



This, to me, seems like the best solution. It doesn't cost you anything and leaves less of a mess to clean up when A-Rod returns. Going out and trading/signing someone would only further complicate the logjam of players between Scranton and the major leagues.



That brings us to the second option, which is, you guessed it: Go trade for someone. Probable low cost options include guys like Mark Teahen in Kansas City, Bobby Crosby in Oakland and Hank Blalock in Texas.



Again, while these guys might give you better production than would Ransom, Berroa, Leone or Duncan, their cost vs. ultimate playing time once A-Rod returns makes me want to lean toward just toughing it out for six weeks or so. Despite what the John Kruks of the world think, the Yanks' lineup is plenty potent, even without A-Rod.

Mark Teixeira, Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui are plenty of power for now.