Ordonez Quits Padres, Giving Job to Greene

Rey Ordonez has left the San Diego Padres, handing the starting shortstop job to rookie Khalil Greene.

General Manager Kevin Towers spoke to Ordonez’s agent, Adam Katz, and said the 33-year-old player was not expected to return to the club. The Padres had granted Ordonez a temporary leave of absence Tuesday to fly to Florida to deal with family issues.

“What I more or less got from his agent is [that] this is the first time in his career that he had to battle for a job, and I think he looked at his competition and he thought [Greene] was playing very well,” Towers said.

Ordonez, a three-time Gold Glove winner with the New York Mets from 1997 to ‘99, signed a minor-league contract with the Padres on Jan. 16. He spent last season with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Padres invited him to spring training to provide an experienced fallback in case Greene, the 13th overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft, proved to be unprepared to start after getting limited experience when he was called up in September.

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Infielder-outfielder Mark McLemore of the Baltimore Orioles will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and be sidelined six to eight weeks, meaning that he will start the season on the disabled list

McLemore was injured after he singled leading off the third inning in Friday’s exhibition game against the Dodgers at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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New York Yankee first baseman Travis Lee will probably start the regular season on the disabled list because of an inflamed left shoulder.

Lee has also played in the outfield this spring, which is where he felt the discomfort while making throws. He was examined by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday.

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Mike Mussina was formally named the Yankees’ opening day starter. Manager Joe Torre said the right-hander would pitch the first of two games in Tokyo on March 30 against the Devil Rays. Kevin Brown will start the second game of the series March 31.

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Texas Ranger minor leaguer Jason Hart has been diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumor and is expected to sit out the season.

The Rangers said that Hart’s condition was confirmed during a series of tests after he reported to the club’s minor league camp last week.

Hart, a first baseman and outfielder, is expected to undergo surgery in the next few weeks to have the tumor removed.

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Minnesota third base coach Al Newman was admitted to a hospital in Fort Myers, Fla., for testing and observation after leaving the Twins’ spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies because of high blood pressure.

Newman spent 16 days in a Chicago hospital in September after suffering a brain hemorrhage.