DETROIT — Derek Jeter will have surgery on his broken left ankle, and the New York Yankees say the star shortstop could need four to five months to completely recover.

The Yankees said Wednesday that Jeter will be operated on Saturday by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. The timetable the team announced means Jeter likely would be ready to return sometime between the start of spring training in mid-February and late spring training in mid-March.

General manager Brian Cashman called that a conservative estimate and left open the possibility that Jeter could come back sooner. Jeter had scans Sunday, which confirmed the fracture, and he saw Anderson on Tuesday.

"There's no new information," Cashman said. "Nothing seemed worse than what our team doctors saw."

Jeter has not accompanied the Yankees in Detroit.

Jeter, the Yankees' 38-year-old captain, broke his ankle Saturday in the 12th inning of the AL Championship Series opener against Detroit while trying to field a ground ball.

Game 4 postponed

DETROIT — Game 4 of the AL Championship Series between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was postponed by bad weather in the area — although Comerica Park itself was still dry when the game was called.

Wednesday night's game was rescheduled for Thursday at 1:07 p.m., when Game 5 was originally scheduled to be played.

Detroit leads the best-of-seven series 3-0.

Notes

• Alex Rodriguez would have been dropped from the Yankees' starting lineup again Wednesday.

The Yankees also benched slumping center fielder Curtis Granderson.

Rodriguez, only 3 for 23 in this postseason, was out of the lineup for the third time in New York's nine playoff games. The star third baseman also has been pulled for a pinch-hitter three times.

"We will go forward. Alex will go forward," Cashman said before Game 4 was postponed.

• Brian McCann's agent says the Atlanta Braves catcher expects to be "completely healthy" for the 2013 season after surgery on his right shoulder.

• Milwaukee said veteran reliever Livan Hernandez and catcher Yorvit Torrealba have become free agents after refusing outright assignments to the minor leagues.