Gardner jokes about A-Rod's retirement: 'He's almost 50'

Alex Rodriguez may have been a little premature when announcing his future retirement plans Wednesday, but that didn't stop one of his New York Yankees teammates from taking the chance to remind the aging slugger he's not getting any younger.

''I don't think it should be too big of a surprise. He's almost 50 years old, right?'' outfielder Brett Gardner told reporters.

Rodriguez initially told ESPN's Andrew Marchand he plans to retire when his contract with the Yankees concludes at the end of the 2017 season, though he backtracked later, saying that it's still too early to make any concrete plans.

"I'm thinking in terms of my contract, which ends in 2017," Rodriguez said. "After that, we'll see what happens. I've got two years and more than 300 games to play."

Set to turn 41 in July, Rodriguez is the second-oldest position player in the majors behind Ichiro Suzuki. Yankee skipper Joe Girardi doesn't believe it's surprising that A-Rod's career is coming to an end, but also acknowledged that if he's in striking distance of any key milestones, retirement could easily be put off.

''He's going to be 42 at the end of his contract. You don't see players playing really past that age. I'm not surprised,'' Girardi said.

''I think he's allowed to change his mind. With his love of playing the game and competing, if he had two really good years, I wouldn't be surprised if he changed his mind.''

Rodriguez currently sits 27 home runs back of Babe Ruth for third all time, and 75 behind Barry Bonds for top spot.