A-Rod hip and happy after op

NEW YORK: Slugger Alex Rodriguez had successful hip surgery on Monday and is expected to return to action in six to nine weeks, the New York Yankees said.

The 33-year-old Rodriguez, baseball's highest-paid player in the second year of a 10-year, $275 million deal, had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.

"Alex is doing very well," hip specialist Dr Marc Philippon said in a conference call after performing the 80-minute procedure in Vail, Colorado. "The surgery went exactly as planned and we will start him on his rehab this afternoon.