Report: A-Rod to skip last series to prepare for suspension appeal, GM denies it

Alex Rodriguez reportedly won't play in the team's final series against the Astros this weekend. (Getty Images) New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez reportedly won't play in the team's final series against the Astros this weekend. (Getty Images)

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez received permission from the team to skip its final series of the season against the Houston Astros this weekend so that he can prepare for his upcoming appeal hearing, reports the New York Daily News.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman quickly refuted that report saying it is "false."

"I'm wasting my time talking about it," Cashman added, according to ESPN.com.

Rodriguez is appealing a 211-game suspension that Major League Baseball levied against him light of his reported involvement in the Biogenesis doping scandal.

MLB suspended 12 others along with Rodriguez.

The Yankees play their final home game Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, who eliminated New York from postseason contention with a 8-3 victory Wednesday.

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Rodriguez, 38, has hit .244 with seven home runs and 19 RBI in 44 games since returning from left hip surgery.

More from the Daily News:

It was reported that A-Rod's appeal hearing would begin this coming Monday, September 30, the day after the end of the regular season. The hearing is expected to last several sessions and a ruling may not come until November or December.