A-Rod committed to 'hard road back' after surgery

• Alex Rodriguez said Saturday that he'll have surgery on his left hip in mid-January

MIAMI (AP) — Alex Rodriguez went to see doctors with hopes of finding something wrong. When they actually located a problem, only then did he start feeling a bit better.

The New York Yankees' third baseman said on Saturday that he'll have surgery on his left hip in mid-January, and that he's eager to embrace the challenge of coming back from both the operation and an unbelievably abysmal finish to last season.

It's expected that Rodriguez, who will be making his sixth trip to the disabled list in six seasons, could be sidelined until the Major League Baseball All-Star break.

"I'm not concerned," Rodriguez said. "I'm actually, in many ways, relieved that there's something tangible that we can go fix."

Rodriguez had surgery on his right hip in 2009, missed about the first month of the season and still finished with 30 home runs and 100 RBI — plus helped the Yankees win the World Series. This surgery is more complex, since it'll repair not only a torn labrum but also a bone impingement and a cyst. The surgery is next month because it was determined he needed some time to strengthen the hip first.

"I am fully committed to a very hard road back," Rodriguez said. "We've done it before in '09 and it was a great result, both on a personal level and on a team level, more importantly. I take it as a great challenge and I'm excited for the challenge."

Rodriguez is a 14-time All-Star and MLB's priciest player, with his current deal being worth $275 million.

He batted .120 (3-for-25) with no RBI in last season's playoffs, including 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handed pitchers. He was benched and replaced by a pinch hitter in key spots, too.

Rodriguez originally thought he was having issues with the right hip again — he wasn't — and it wasn't until November that the issues within the left hip were detected. Now knowing that something was wrong, Rodriguez said a lot of things from last season — particularly how it ended — make more sense.

"It was definitely an unfortunate situation," Rodriguez said. "And if we knew, I think we could have avoided the bloody bath of the last two weeks. Obviously, that wasn't fun. It was quite miserable, to be honest with you."

Rodriguez finished this past regular season batting .272 with 18 home runs and 57 RBI. He now has 647 career homers, fifth-most in MLB history and 13 shy of the No. 4 player on that list, Willie Mays.

Rodriguez was in Miami, the city he calls home, on Saturday to host a pair of events for children — his basketball tournament which he started a decade ago, and a toy giveaway at a Boys & Girls Club where he was a member until getting drafted by the Seattle Mariners.