A-Rod not in danger of release

With Yankees brass trying to decide whether to keep their roster intact or shed some assets before the trade deadline, team owner Hal Steinbrenner was at The Stadium for Friday’s 3-2 win over the Giants and reportedly met with the struggling Alex Rodriguez.

Steinbrenner, according to a source, was in town all week and still has not determined the immediate future of the team as the Yankees try to forge their way into the playoff race.

According to ESPN, Steinbrenner met with Rodriguez prior to the game, in which he went 0-for-4. Rodriguez has just two hits in his past 23 at-bats.

There has been speculation that if the Yankees decide to sell by the Aug. 1 deadline, they could release the struggling Rodriguez, who has roughly $28 million left on his contract that runs through next season, as well as Mark Teixeira, who will be a free agent after this year. But the topic of Rodriguez being released did not come up in the meeting with Steinbrenner and Rodriguez repeatedly has declined to address the subject.

Steinbrenner could not be reached Friday.

Not many hitters have Madison Bumgarner figured out, but Starlin Castro seems to have done the trick.

The second baseman got three more hits and drove in a run off Bumgarner on Friday and now is 14-for-27 (.519) off the lefty in his career.

“I just see the ball well against him, I guess,” Castro said. “I don’t know the numbers, but I know I’ve had a lot of hits off him.”

The key, according to Castro, is being aggressive.

“He comes right after you, so you have to swing right away,” Castro said. “He’s not scared of anybody, so you have to be ready as soon as you get up there.”

His success against the Giants’ ace has mystified Joe Girardi, who said he has “no idea” why Castro owns Bumgarner.

“Sometimes guys see guys better than others,” Girardi said. “Obviously, his at-bats were huge.”

Castro’s first-inning double drove in the Yankees’ first run and he added two singles.