TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez could count on one thing during the most scrutinized month of his career: His health.

Now even that is a huge question mark.

"He's very important for us," New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said. "You lose a guy like him — we've got a good lineup — but he's the guy that puts it all together."

Rodriguez will attempt to play this season with an injured right hip, hoping to avoid surgery and a four-month rehabilitation period.

A cyst in the hip was drained Wednesday, and the Yankees third baseman will skip playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Still, he has a torn labrum that might need an operation.

"He's been through a lot, and you probably can go through the last year that he's been through a lot," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's been pretty good in staying focused in what he has to do. The thing about Alex, we all know how hard he works. He's able to do a lot of things because of his work ethic, and you hope that carries him though this year as well."

The diagnosis by Dr. Marc Philippon, in Vail, Colo., was yet another jolt to Rodriguez during a tumultuous one-month span in which the three-time AL MVP admitted using banned drugs from 2001-03 while with Texas.

Girardi is concerned Rodriguez could start the regular season and then have to be shut down.

"It's not something you necessarily want to think about," Girardi said. "You watch him closely to make sure there is nothing wrong, and I know Alex will be honest with his body. He'll do everything possible to get on the field, but it's worrisome."

Earlier Thursday, ESPNdeportes.com reported that Rodriguez's brother, Joe Dunand, said the slugger was going to have surgery, with a projected 10-week recovery time.

"There's two courses of action concerning what he has," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "There is treat it conservatively, which would imply rest, exercise and treatment. Or you can treat it aggressively, which is by surgery. At this point in time, we are going to go the conservative route."

Cashman said Rodriguez's preference was to try rest and treatment first, but that offseason surgery might be an option.

Cashman said the team hopes the cyst was the cause of stiffness that had bothered the 12-time All-Star and caused him to see Philippon. Rodriguez was to undergo additional tests in Colorado on Friday.

"Now that it's drained, we're going to see how he responds," Cashman said. "Get a gauge of how much improvement, if at all, there is."

Dominican Republic general manager Stan Javier spoke with Rodriguez on Thursday.

"The only concern I have right now is I hope he's OK," Javier said. "It's too bad it has happened, but that's baseball and that's life. He told me he might have surgery Sunday or Monday. He said he's going to meet us in Miami to be with the team."

Last year, Rodriguez was sidelined from April 28 to May 20 because of a strained right quadriceps — his fifth career trip to the disabled list. An MRI exam at that time showed what Cashman called an "irregularity" in the right hip.

Rodriguez's hip was fine until experiencing stiffness during spring training this year. He was examined by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad and underwent an MRI last Saturday

"The MRI we did showed some changes in that hip area," Cashman said. "What he's dealing with now is obviously something more significant. There is no pain, which is a good thing."

Rodriguez's 138 games last season were his fewest since 1999, when he tore the medial meniscus in his left knee during a spring training agility drill on March 30. He played in the first two games of that season with Seattle, then was put on the disabled list April 7 and missed 32 games until he returned May 14.

If Rodriguez is sidelined, New York would have to replace its third baseman and cleanup hitter, behind new first baseman Mark Teixeira.

The leading internal candidate to take over at third would be Cody Ransom, a 33-year-old who has a .251 average and 24 RBIs in 183 at-bats in six major league seasons.

"I think the team will try and pick up the slack until he's ready," Ransom said. "Hopefully it's not too long. You can't really replace what he does."

Since joining the Yankees before the 2004 season, Rodriguez has averaged 42 homers and 123 RBIs to go along with a .303 batting average.

"We just need to stay healthy," said Posada, who's coming off a shoulder injury. "Whatever is going to be best for Alex, we understand. We'll go from there. You try to play through the injury, but then also, you don't want to hurt the team."

When Rodriguez is able to resume spring training workouts, there will be restrictions.

"I think there's plenty of things that we can do, DHing, and maybe not playing the whole game at any point," Girardi said. "Maybe not asking him to play too many days in a row. Just monitoring his condition everyday. I think you'll be able to tell."

Easily baseball's highest-paid player with a $32 million salary this season, Rodriguez had been looking forward to the April 16 opener at the $1.5 billion new Yankee Stadium.

"It's worrisome thinking about your club without Alex," Girardi said. "Alex hasn't had any pain. Shocked. I think that's a pretty good way to describe it."