Cubs might want Lou Piniella to return as manager next season | Baseball

MESA, Ariz. — The Chicago Cubs will listen to manager Lou Piniella if he wants to return when his contract runs out after this season.

"If he feels well and wants to keep going, we'll have an interesting conversation," team president Crane Kenney said this week at spring training. "He has done a great job. He has raised the bar and that's a little bit of the burden we all carry now."

Piniella, the former Mariners skipper, is in the fourth and final year of his contract. He led the Cubs to a pair of division titles before they slumped to 83-78 last season.

"I have a nice conversation with Crane every day," Piniella said.

Piniella, who will turn 67 in August, has said he doesn't want his job status to be a distraction or a daily topic of conversation.

Asked how he's feeling, Piniella said: "Last time I checked I'm not on life support."

Surgery for Berkman

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Houston All-Star first baseman Lance Berkman will have minor surgery on his left knee Saturday and miss two to four weeks, a recovery period that could sideline him for opening day.

The 34-year-old injured knee during a baserunning drill at spring training on March 1. Tests showed that Berkman bruised his knee, and he played five games after skipping the Astros' spring training opener.

Berkman's knee continued to swell, and team doctor Dr. David Lintner decided on Friday that the slugger should have arthroscopic surgery.

Astros general manager Ed Wade said the team is confident the injury won't be a lingering problem.

"We certainly don't encourage players to have surgery, but if this is an easy fix, it removes the uncertainty that it could occur again," Wade said. "We think that once it gets addressed, that it's a dead issue and we won't have to worry about it anymore."

Berkman had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee in 1999.

Dodgers fall

in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Manny Ramirez and the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers had a quiet opening in Taiwan.

Ramirez went 0 for 3 as the designated hitter, and a Dodgers split squad heavy on minor-leaguers was held to three hits Friday night in a 5-2 loss to a team of Taiwanese All-Stars that opened a three-game exhibition series.

Just 24 hours after the Dodgers landed following a 15-hour flight from Arizona, starter Y.C. Lin limited Los Angeles to one hit in four shutout innings.

Notes

• Milwaukee manager Ken Macha says Trevor Hoffman is on track to make a few spring training appearances before the season begins. Hoffman has yet to appear in an exhibition so far, and the Brewers have been giving the 42-year-old career saves leader extra rest. Hoffman started last season on the disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle and missed the first month.

• Chicago White Sox outfield prospect Jared Mitchell was carted off the field after getting hurt while making a spectacular, against-the-wall catch on a drive off the bat of the Angels' Juan Rivera.

• Cleveland SS Asdrubal Cabrera injured his left leg in the Indians' game against the Los Angeles Angels.

• Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer in Milwaukee's 12-3 win over the Cubs, strengthening his case for making the Brewers' opening-day roster.

Edmonds, who finished with two hits and scored twice, agreed to a minor-league deal with the Brewers on Jan. 28. The 39-year-old outfielder with eight Gold Gloves is a career .284 hitter with 382 homers and 1,176 RBI in 16 seasons, but took last year off.

• Tampa Bay has selected RHP James Shields as its opening-day starting pitcher. The 28-year-old also got the assignment the past two seasons and would become the first pitcher in franchise history to get the call three consecutive years.