SEATTlE – Chuck Knoblauch wasn’t in the starting lineup for the second straight game last night thanks to a bruised left side.
“They said to give it one more day,” said Knoblauch, who suffered the injury jumping into the left-field wall Wednesday night in Oakland. “Joe (Torre) said as long as it was getting better, there is no need to panic.”
Torre, who used David Justice in left and Robert Perez as the DH, said Knoblauch was available for pinch-hitting duty.
“If needed, he could have played, but I figured with a day game (today), I felt I would rather have him as a pinch-hitter instead of irritating it.,” Torre said. “He came to me and said he was ready but once he said he could feel it a bit.”
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One of the most fearsome right-handed hitters in baseball, a weapon the Yankees could seriously use to inject life into a stagnant lineup, is available according to several baseball executives.
Disgusted with the Rangers’ dreadful start and not wanting to go into a complete rebuilding mode, owner Tom Hicks has let it be known that for the right package of arms that can help the Rangers now and tomorrow, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is on the block.
However, before Yankee fans start salivating over Pudge slipping into Pinstripes and possibly making a DH out of Jorge Posada, there are major stumbling blocks.
The first one has the Dodgers involved since they have highly-regarded right-handers luke Prokopec and Eric Gagne to offer the pitching-poor Rangers. They also have the financial means to meet what Pudge will be looking for as a free agent following the 2002 season. He is due to $9 million next year. With Jeff Moorad as his agent, you know Pudge will be looking for $20 million or more a year.
The second one revolves around the Yankees having a shortage of arms ready to contribute at the major league level. Ted lilly, Randy Keisler and Adrian “El Duquecito“Hernandez are the closest to the big leagues and none have shown the stuff to excite any team in a trade never mind one that includes Pudge.
Still, you can guarantee George Steinbrenner will have his Inner Circle monitoring whatever the Rangers do with Pudge, who recently returned from two weeks on the shelf with a bruised heel.
Of course, one way the Yankees could get the Rangers attention would be to dangle Posada in front of them. However, any team that acquires Pudge should be very aware that despite not being 30 until November, this is his 11th big league season and there are a lot of miles on the body.
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Unless Henry Rodriguez suffers an injury before Sunday’s Triple-A action is complete, the veteran left-handed hitting outfielder will be activated from the Dl in time for Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Who goes to make room is a question the Yankees are wrestling with. Clay Bellinger, Michael Coleman and Perez are the candidates. Bellinger has an option left so he is the favorite although watching Coleman it’s very clear he can’t play off the bench and has big troubles hitting the breaking ball.
Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez (0-4; 5.11) faces HP Jamie Moyer (6-1; 5.28) tonight.
