Chipper in pinstripes? Yankees tried

VIERA, Fla. (AP) — Chipper Jones putting on pinstripes?

The banged-up New York Yankees would love to have him. General manager Brian Cashman even said so Monday, expressing interest in the retired Atlanta Braves star.

“He’d be perfect,” Cashman said at Yankees’ camp in Tampa. “I’d take Larry in a heartbeat. I think everybody would.”

The eight-time All-Star third baseman — better known by his nickname than actual first name — quickly ended such talk.

“Enough with the rumors!” Jones tweeted. “While I am flattered about the speculation of being enticed out of retirement, I’m happy with life as a bad golfer!”

Pretty much what everyone figured.

“I can imagine a lot of things in baseball,” Braves coach and former third baseman Terry Pendleton said, “but Chipper playing for the Yankees isn’t one of them.”

“I think you’d have a lot of people in Atlanta pretty mad if that happened. He’s a man of his word and he says he’s done,” he said. “But it might help the Yankees with their attendance. I think a lot of Mets fans would come over to Yankee Stadium to boo him.”

Still, it was a fun thought — Jones and Derek Jeter together on the left side of the infield. At least for a minute.

“He has the utmost respect for the Yankees’ organization, but his legacy is and will always be with the Braves,” Jones’ agent, B.B. Abbott, told The Associated Press in a text message.

Dodgers’ Greinke scratched,

heads to L.A. for elbow exam

PHOENIX — Zack Greinke was scratched from his spring training start for the Dodgers on Monday against Milwaukee and went to Los Angeles to have his sore right elbow examined.

Greinke, signed to a $147 million, six-year contract in December as a free agent, threw a bullpen session Friday without issue, then felt discomfort while throwing Sunday.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Greinke had a MRI last week that detected no ligament damage.

“The fact that he’s not here is a little bit of a concern,” Mattingly said. “Listening to Zack, he can pitch with this. I know we’re being really cautious. As a player, it clears the mind when you know nothing is going to get hurt by doing this. I was standing in during his bullpen, and if that’s him hurting with something serious going on, it would be a shocker.”

The Dodgers said Greinke was to be examined “out of an abundance of caution” and called it a “mild irritation in the back of his right elbow.”

Greinke was to be looked over by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, and the next outing for the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner will be delayed pending the results.

Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu replaced Greinke as Monday’s starter.

The 29-year-old Greinke was 15-5 with a 3.48 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 212 1-3 innings last year for the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Angels.

He has pitched five innings in two spring training starts, missing one turn because of flu. He was sidelined for the first month of the 2011 season because of a broken rib, an injury sustained while playing pickup basketball during the offseason.

Tags: sports, mlb, baseball