Major League Baseball scheduled an appeals hearing for Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Chase Utley next Monday, commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed.
Utley received a two-game suspension after his hard slide into second base to break up a double play during Game 2 of the best-of-five National League Division Series on Saturday night resulted in New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada suffering a fractured leg.
The appeals hearing will come after the NLDS between the Dodgers and Mets. Utley originally was suspended for Games 3 and 4, but he appealed and is eligible to play in the remaining games of the series or until he has the hearing.
Utley sat out Game 3 on Monday night in New York but could play in Game 4 on Tuesday night. The Dodgers trail the Mets 2-1 in the series.
Manfred said MLB tried to schedule the hearing earlier.
“We actually went in front of John McHale, the hearing officer,” Manfred said. “We argued for a hearing date (Tuesday) or (Wednesday). The union wanted longer time to get ready and John decided that he would give them until Monday in order to get ready.
“Look, we have a process and the process has worked pretty well in terms of handling these sorts of disputes, so we’ll be ready to go on Monday.”‘
Manfred wants baseball to be proactive going forward in protecting middle infielders from aggressive slides.
“The issue of player safety is paramount for us,” Manfred said. “We have some great young athletes and we don’t want to lose any of them, regardless of position, to injuries that can be avoided and we are going to constantly look at the game to find ways to prevent avoidable injuries.
“We started talking to the union about this. It is another example of the issue of player safety, which is really high on our radar screen. We’ve got a lot of money invested in ballplayers. The players themselves have tremendous playing opportunities in terms of what they can earn. And I think it’s important that we protect them.”
The Mets will be without Tejada for the remainder of the playoffs.
Report: Padres interview Cora for manager’s job
The San Diego Padres are interviewing former major league infielder Alex Cora for their vacant manager’s job, CBS Sports reported Tuesday.
Cora currently works as a baseball analyst for ESPN and has no professional coaching experience, but he played in the major leagues from 1998 to 2011 for six teams.
The 39-year-old Cora also has been mentioned in connection with manager openings in Washington and Miami.
According to the CBS Sports report, Cora is seen a good managerial candidate despite his lack of experience. A bonus is his ability to speak Spanish.
Cora most notably was with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox during his playing career. He was part of Boston’s World Series championship team in 2007.
The Padres’ vacancy was created when the team dismissed interim manager Pat Murphy after finishing 74-88 in 2015. Murphy stepped in to replace ousted manager Bud Black in June.
Among the other potential candidates for the Padres’ job are former Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and Pittsburgh Pirates coach Rick Sofield.
Gardenhire also could be on the radar of the Nationals, who fired Matt Williams at the end of a disappointing 2015 season.
Mariners’ Cano has hernia surgery
Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano underwent sports hernia surgery on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Recovery is expected to take six weeks after the procedure to repair the right- and left-side core muscles performed by Dr. William Meyers of the Vincera Institute. Cano should be ready in plenty of time for spring training next February.
The injury was diagnosed in late September on Cano’s right side, but an MRI revealed a hernia on the other side.
In 156 games this past season for the Mariners, the 32-year-old Cano batted .287 with 21 home runs, 79 RBIs, 82 runs, 34 doubles and one triple. He hit .330 with 17 homers, 55 RBIs and 52 runs in the final half of the 2015 season.