Luis Rodriguez headed to DL

Thursday May 14, 2009

San Diego Padres shortstop Luis Rodriguez is headed to the disabled list with an ankle injury he sustained rounding first base on Wednesday.

This injury continues a pattern of highly elevated level of injuries that stretches back to 2001. The Padres were on pace for nearly 1100 player days on the DL before Rodriguez came up lame with an ankle injury that could sideline him for a month.

The Padres have almost a complete dearth of major league ready middle infield depth after allowing Travis Denker to be claimed on waivers in April, one of the biggest bone head moves management has made this season.

The shortstop that is closest to major league ready, the slick fielding Sean Kazmar, is currently hitting .162 in his first season at AAA Portland. The only other option is Brett Dowdy, a lead glove with a decent bat but no power.

So what options does that leave the Padres?

The Padres could play Chris Burke daily, but Burke has hit just .226 against RHP.

They could move David Eckstein to short until Luis Rodriguez returns and play Edgar Gonzalez at 2b, but Eckstein is 34 with rapidly fading range and Edgar Gonzalez is a butcher in the field.

Everth Cabrera is still at least a month away from returning from his own stint on the disabled list and while a promising prospect, he has only had 13 abs above low A.

If Kouzmanoff was hitting they could make a trade to bring in at least a good SS prospect or some help for the pitching staff, but he is currently hitting .216.

So what will the Padres do?

Probably nothing. There is not much they can do other than start Burke daily and bring up a temporary fill in from the farm.