Veterans sit again as season comes to a close

Luis Gonzalez, Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra haven’t been in the starting lineup together since Sept. 21, the day after Kent went public with a clubhouse rift that pitted the Dodgers’ veterans against the team’s first- and second-year players.

And Manager Grady Little was noncommittal Saturday when asked if any of the three would play this afternoon in the Dodgers’ season finale.

“You’ll see tomorrow,� he said.

Gonzalez, who won’t be back next season, signed autographs and posed for pictures for about half an hour before Saturday’s game and said he’d like to say good-bye to fans on the field, too. But he doesn’t expect that will happen.

“The situation is what it is. I haven’t [started] in six days. I don’t see why I should play tomorrow,� said Gonzalez, who had the game-winning pinch hit on Saturday. “It’s the plan that they wanted to go with. It’s what they wanted to do.

“I think my only disappointment was we didn’t get an opportunity to play against Colorado, who was making a push for the playoffs. I would have really liked to try to play spoiler.�

Garciaparra, the other player benched -- Kent is reportedly nursing an injury -- said he’s not sure why he has been limited to one pinch-hit appearance in the last week. But he agrees with Gonzalez that returning from such a long layoff for one game could be dangerous.

“We don’t make the lineup,� he said. “If we see our name in there, we go play.

“Definitely I’d love to. But at the same time, to play us now after sitting us down and not playing for this long, it would probably do more damage to us than good. After a week your body just shuts down. So to try to pick it up again and play at this level, it’s not that easy.�

Another veteran who hasn’t played lately is catcher Mike Lieberthal, whose only appearance on the field this homestand came Saturday when he caught chef Emeril Lagasse’s ceremonial first pitch. The Dodgers appear likely to buy out Lieberthal’s option for next season, saving the team $1.3 million. That could create an opportunity for Chad Moeller, an eight-year veteran who started two of the last four games.

“They’ve probably already made their decision about what they’re going to do next year and they want to see Moeller catch,� Lieberthal said.

Lieberthal started only 17 games.

Rookie Delwyn Young, who played left field Saturday, has also played twice this season at second base, a position he last played regularly in the minors two years ago. And while Little doesn’t see Young playing in the infield much for the Dodgers, that versatility remains a plus.

“That’s not where we’re looking at his future. His future is as an outfielder,� Little said. “But like any young player, the more different things they can do may enable them to get to the big leagues and be able to stay there sooner.�

Mike Sweeney’s single in the eighth inning Friday was his baseball-best 24th pinch-hit this season. That’s the most pinch-hits in a season since Lenny Harris had 26 for Colorado and Arizona in 1999. It was also Sweeney’s 163rd pinch-hit, the second-best total in history behind Harris’ 212. . . . The Dodgers continue to dismiss rumors of a trade that would send Matt Kemp and minor league pitcher Clayton Kershaw to Minnesota for two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana. . . . Right-hander James McDonald was chosen the Dodgers’ minor league pitcher of the year.

[email protected]