The New York Yankees are hanging around in the AL East despite dealing with a crazy amount of injuries to star players and while many fans feel that Alex Rodriguez has been a disappointment, the DL list shows that the team needs him more than ever.

According to ESPN.com, both Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis are back on the DL and the team has some major depth issues at third base now. The team has used David Adams and other players throughout the season while juggling injuries and now it appears as if the Yankees could very much use Rodriguez, despite his connections to the Biogenisis story and the possible suspension by the MLB. Rodriguez has been out with a hip injury and while he has started up on baseball activities, it is unsure of when he will return to the team.

Teixeira should be back in a few weeks, but the worse one is Youkilis, who will be out at least 10 weeks after back surgery. A-Rod turns 38 this season and while he is way past his best years, he would be an upgrade over anyone the Yankees play at third. The team has David Adams and Lyle Overbay playing the corners and while Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter and Youkilis are still on the mend, they will need to stay above water at those positions until they return.

This could actually be the perfect situation for Rodriguez to come back, as he will have the chance to get healthy and then prove to everyone that he still can hit. Despite his age and the connections to the steroids case, Rodriguez still has some pop and since he hasn't been fully healthy for at least the past three seasons, he has a chance to make up for all the negative publicity the past year.

The Yankees are 38-31 on the season and rank 22^nd in runs and 24^th in batting and they really need some offensive help. The team is 23^rd and 21^st in on base and slugging percentage and while A-Rod is not his old self, he would be a huge boost for the team.

"Oh yeah," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said, when I asked if he could imagine Rodriguez doing just that. Mattingly actually liked A-Rod quite a bit when he was a Yankees coach "because he always wanted to be great, and I think it is still in him to want that and to do something special."