Padres’ Andersen Might Start Season on DL : Baseball: Tests reveal no damage to relief pitcher’s rotator cuff.

Although Padre reliever Larry Andersen probably will open the season on the disabled list with an injured right shoulder, the club was relieved to learn Thursday that medical tests revealed no damage to his rotator cuff.

Instead, results from the magnetic resonance imaging tests disclosed that Andersen has a cartilage impingement in his right shoulder, which caused the shoulder to become inflamed. Although no one’s certain how long Andersen will be sidelined, the Padres hope he will be ready by mid-April.

“The shoulder was clear, and that’s the most important thing,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager. “He may have to start the year on the DL, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Andersen, who’s expected to rejoin the team today, said he officially was diagnosed with an impinged labrum in the joint of his shoulder.

“I was scared to death it was more serious,” Andersen, 38, said Thursday night from his San Diego home. “When you’re looking at anything with a rotator cuff, you’re looking at two years. The doctor (Jan Fronek) was real surprised how good the rotator cuff looked, particulary as long as I’ve been pitching.

“When it’s time to leave the game, I don’t want to be forced out by a doctor, I want to be forced out by a hitter. Or a lot of hitters.”

Andersen, who was given a cortisone shot Thursday morning, is expected to begin lightly tossing in five or six days, Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. He’s expected to begin throwing off a mound in 10 days.

However, Andersen said: “I’ve got other plans.”

Andersen is hoping to junk that agenda, he said, and begin throwing off the mound within five days while the Padres are in Palm Springs.

“I’ve had my share of the DL, and I don’t want to be there again,” Andersen said. “I don’t want to blow my arm out, but I don’t want to miss any more time, either.

“Really, it’s all up in the air. They want me to take a couple of days off, but there’s no magical recipe for this. I just hope the cortisone all goes in the right places.

“It’s their decision, of course, whether I go on the DL, but I want to show them I’m OK. I plan to be there opening day.”

Riddoch said he doesn’t want to discuss alternatives if Andersen indeed is forced to the disabled list. But it’s possible, he hinted, that Jeremy Hernandez would loom as a bullpen candidate.

“But I’m counting on Larry,” Riddoch said, “until I hear different.”

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn., met two hours Thursday with the Padre players and warned them to be prepared for a lockout in 1993.

“I don’t anticipate a lockout,” Fehr said, “but you have to assume one. There’s been enough talk going on already. It’s pretty clear they’re trying to send a message.

“Maybe this time, there’ll be good-faith negotiations. That would be a nice change.”

The Players Assn. has been keeping part of the players’ licensing checks for a lockout/strike fund, and on Thursday gave the Padres checks for about $32,000--about half of what they were scheduled to receive.

The Padres, whose payroll is projected to be $28.6 million this year, asked Fehr whether the escalating salaries will indeed force the game to be shut down.

“Clubs continue to predict disaster’s around the corner,” Fehr said. “Are they right this time? That’s the question.

“What the owners don’t bother to tell you is that revenues set a new record last year, and are ahead of last year. Salaries are a direct correlation to that.

“The fact that the industry is healthy doesn’t mean that all the franchises are making money. But believe me, this industry is very healthy.”

Padre Notes

General Manager Joe McIlvaine had trade negotiations for the third consecutive day with Sal Bando, Milwaukee Brewer general manager. McIlvaine still hopes to make the deal for third baseman Gary Sheffield before the Padres break camp Saturday. “I hope I’m there by this weekend,” Sheffield said. “I need to get the hell out of Milwaukee. Joe’s always told me he wished he had me when he was still with the Mets.” . . . The Padres were rained out for the second time this spring, and will play a split-squad doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m. (PST) today. . . . The Padres are expected to make their next round of roster cuts today. Manager Greg Riddoch said that he’ll cut about four or five players, reducing the roster to 32. Expected to be included in the group are pitcher Mike York, catcher Mike Basso, outfielder Steve Pegues and first baseman Guillermo Velasquez. . . . The Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees still have mild interest in Padre reliever Craig Lefferts. . . . Padre second baseman Kurt Stillwell was sick with the flu Thursday. . . . Shortstop Tony Fernandez is hitless in his last 10 at-bats, and is batting only .100 for the spring without a single walk. “I’m tired right now,” Fernandez said. “I’ll be all right.” . . . In the past 16 games, right fielder Tony Gwynn is batting .511 with four doubles, a triple and four RBIs. He has 14 hits in his last 19 at-bats, and leads the National League with a .511 batting average. . . . Former Padre pitcher Jimmy Jones is expected to make the Houston Astro rotation, thanks in part to their schedule. The Astros play their first 15 games at home, and 41 of their first 67. Jones was 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA at home last year, and 2-5 with a 7.62 ERA on the road. . . . Although the Padres have had their pitching woes, the San Francisco Giants are expected to open with two of their starters on the disabled list: Bud Black and Trevor Wilson.