LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed center fielder Andruw Jones on the 15-day disabled list Saturday because of an injured right knee that will require surgery and sideline him at least 4 to 6 weeks.
Jones, who signed a two-year, $36.2 million contract last winter after 12 good seasons with the Atlanta Braves, has struggled in Los Angeles. The five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner is hitting .165 with two homers and seven RBIs in 43 games.
Now the club is going to invest 4-6 weeks of recuperatory time in the 31-year-old slugger, who will be on the DL for the first time in his career. Dr. Neal Elahrache, the Dodgers’ orthopedic surgeon, will perform the surgery on Tuesday at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic.
“He was really determined not to have it done, but surgery is the best thing,” general manager Ned Colletti said. “It will not only help him physically, but hopefully it’ll help his game. Obviously through seven weeks it’s been disappointing for him and for everyone involved.”
Jones underwent an MRI exam earlier this week, revealing a partially torn cartilage in his knee. He decided to rest it a few days, then returned to action on Friday night as a pinch-hitter and struck out with runners at the corners in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to St. Louis.
“He needs to get his knee fixed and get back to the player he’s been,” Colletti said. “After last night, trying it one more time, he called Stan (trainer Stan Conti) and said, ‘I’ve got to get this fixed.’ But give him credit. He wanted to play. He was hampered by it, but there wasn’t a lot of swelling or irritation to it until five or six days ago.”
Somehow, Colletti has found a silver lining in Jones’ injury.
“I’ll say this about Andruw Jones: He has not hit near what anybody expected him to, including himself. But I’m very much assured that his presence here has made (Andre) Ethier and (Matt) Kemp better players — and even Juan Pierre is more selective,” Colletti said. “Andruw’s presence has created a competition that we hoped it would and give our young players a chance to be as good as they can be. I don’t think there’s any debate about that.”
To replace Jones on the roster, the Dodgers purchased the contract of former Minnesota Twins utilityman Terry Tiffee from Triple-A Las Vegas and placed third baseman Nomar Garciaparra on the 60-day DL. Garciaparra, on the DL for the second time this season, has been sidelined since April 26 with a left calf strain.
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