MISSING IN ACTION: General manager Brian Cashman will look to make improvements to a punchless Yankees lineup that has been trying to function without Curtis Granderson and Derek Jeter (inset) all season. (Getty Images; AP)
Could Curtis Granderson give the Yankees’ lineup a jolt with an August return? How about Alex Rodriguez? Will he be ready to come back from the disabled list on Monday in Texas? Or should general manager Brian Cashman acquire a right-handed bat such as Michael Young before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline?
“You have to wait and see, play it out. We need to improve offensively and that will come with additions,’’ Cashman said. “We look forward to getting guys back. If I can run into a trade, all the better.
“I know what we’re looking for. We are looking to add some offense if we can. But if it’s coming off the DL, might be the best move we can do, or if I can make a trade, that would be wonderful. We got [Zoilo] Almonte up, we’ve had [David] Adams up. We’ve used everybody and anybody from waiver claims to promotions. We’re not sitting on our [butt], I can tell you that. We’ve been plugging the holes as best as we can.”
Though the Yankees don’t have a starting pitcher in tonight’s All-Star Game at Citi Field, their rotation has been good enough. Combined with a strong bullpen, pitching hasn’t been the problem.
The same can’t be said for the lineup, which has had Rodriguez for zero games, Jeter for one, Granderson for eight, Mark Teixeira for 15, Kevin Youkilis for 28.
Jeter returned Friday from two fractured bones in his left ankle and left with a strained right quadriceps. He didn’t play Saturday and Sunday, and there is a chance he returns to the DL when play resumes Friday in Boston.
“I left the Stadium earlier, he was on the table getting treatment,’’ Cashman said. “I’m not in a position to even say [if there will be a DL stint]. We haven’t even evaluated it.”
Rodriguez was scheduled to play third base in a rehab appearance last night for Double-A Trenton in Reading, Pa.
“We will take it from there. His rehab clock ends on [Sunday], so the earliest obviously he would be available to us in the big leagues is the 22nd,’’ Cashman said. “He will need the full 20 days, and that goes through the 21st.”
What happens if Rodriguez, who was 3-for-21 (.143) in eight rehab games, is not ready by then?
“We’ll have to wait and see,’’ said Cashman, who can return Rodriguez to the DL.
Because Granderson, Teixeira, Jeter and Youkilis did not last long after returning from the DL, there are questions about what the Yankees can expect from Rodriguez and Granderson when they come back.
“That’s stuff you always have to deal with, but you never know until you turn them loose,’’ Cashman said. “We’ll see. We will take him when [Granderson] is ready. If pressed about when, I’d say probably early August. If sooner than that, that would be a gift from above.”
Granderson, recovering from a broken left pinkie suffered in his second week back from a broken right forearm, is looking for the gift.
“That’s what I’m hoping, and I am very optimistic that maybe it’s possibly earlier than that,” Granderson said of the early-August timeline. “We’ll see how things go when we get back down there.”
The outfielder is encouraged.
“Shouldn’t be too long,” Granderson said at an event for his Grand Kids Foundation event at STK in Manhattan. “We’re getting close. I started hitting in the cage recently and doing some soft toss.
“I’m going to head to Tampa to continue my rehab, get back in the cage. I’ve been throwing, I’ve been running. I’ve been doing all my defense. We’ve just got to get the baseball stuff underneath me in terms of hitting, getting back out on the field and playing.’’
— Additional reporting by David Satriano