Angels’ Kennedy Will Miss Part of the Season

Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy will undergo surgery on his right knee Friday and will miss at least part of the 2005 season.

Kennedy said rehabilitation would take six to 10 months, meaning the soonest he would be back is May. Kennedy was injured Sept. 20 fielding a ground ball hit by Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki. Kennedy planted his foot awkwardly and tore ligaments.

“There is a good chance I am going to miss the start of the season,” Kennedy said. “I was expecting that.”

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said his approach during the off-season would be affected by Kennedy’s surgery.

“From my standpoint, it is something I will be mindful of,” Stoneman said. “I don’t know exactly what the results of his surgery will be. But I have to be mindful that Adam might not start the season.”

One option is Chone Figgins, who played second base in 20 games in 2004. He also played outfield, third base and shortstop.

“Figgy is good wherever we put him,” Stoneman said. “It would be hard to leave him at just one position. But if we did, he would probably get much better with experience.”

Another route the Angels could take is moving shortstop David Eckstein to second base, his original position, and then pursuing a shortstop in the off-season. The Chicago Cubs’ Nomar Garciaparra and Boston’s Orlando Cabrera will be free agents.

Kennedy batted .278 with 10 home runs and 48 runs batted in. He also is one of the American League’s top defensive second basemen.

-- Chris Foster

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Met General Manager Omar Minaya shook up New York’s coaching staff while continuing to search for a manager to replace Art Howe.

Minaya announced that only pitching coach Rick Peterson would return in his current position next season.

Don Baylor will not be back as the team’s hitting coach but is still under consideration to take over for Howe.

Third base-infield coach Matt Galante and first base-outfield coach Gary Pettis were let go by the Mets. Bench coach Bobby Floyd and bullpen coach Nelson Silverio will be reassigned within the organization.

Also, the Mets announced they are starting their own television network, following the lead of the crosstown Yankees.

The Mets said that they have reached an agreement with Time Warner and Comcast for a regional sports station that would start in 2006.

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Baltimore Oriole right-hander Jason Grimsley underwent Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow and will be sidelined for at least six months.... The Cleveland Indians purchased the contract of left-hander Scott Sauerbeck and added him to their 40-man roster.... Toronto Blue Jay catcher Bobby Estalella became a free agent after declining his assignment to triple-A Syracuse.

Tennis

U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated qualifier Michaela Pastikova, 6-2, 6-4, joining fellow Russians Vera Zvonareva and Elena Bovina in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup at Moscow.

On the men’s side, top-seeded Marat Safin was upset by Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-3.

Stepanek, No. 72 on the ATP Tour rankings, broke the Russian’s serve twice in the final set to pull out the 2 1/2 -hour match. Safin is ninth in the rankings.

Zvonareva, seeded sixth, rallied to beat Karolina Sprem, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Bovina defeated Claudine Schaul, 7-5, 6-3.

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Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand moved into the second round of the CA Trophy with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Albert Costa at Vienna.

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Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic defeated Raemon Sluiter, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in the second round of the Open de Moselle at Metz, France.

Second-seeded Xavier Malisse quit because of an elbow problem when tied at one set apiece with Gael Monfils.

Miscellany

Former world champion ski jumper Matti Nykanen was charged with attempted manslaughter after stabbing a man in southern Finland in August, regional court officials said in Helsinki.

The case will open in a district court in Tampere, north of Helsinki, on Oct. 27. If found guilty, Nykanen could be sentenced to as long as nine years in prison.

Nykanen, 41, won 19 medals at the Olympics and world championships from 1982 to 1990, the most by a ski jumper.

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Sprint car driver Jimmy Weller III, 18, was in critical condition after crashing in a dirt-track race at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway complex in Concord, N.C.

Weller, of Liberty, Ohio, was flown by helicopter to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. A hospital spokeswoman said Weller was in critical condition but would not provide details.

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Marquette basketball Coach Tom Crean is hoping spine stabilization exercises and physical therapy will allow him to make it through the upcoming season.

Crean, 38, is under the care of orthopedic spine surgeon Clay Frank, who said Crean recently had an “internal disk disruption” common to men of his age, which usually heals in four months.

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Stanford was picked to play host to the 2006 NCAA men’s and women’s tennis championships May 18-29.

Georgia will stage the event in 2007, Tulsa in 2008 and Texas A&M; in 2009.

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Jason Leffler will drive a third Joe Gibbs Racing entry next year in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.

Team President J.D. Gibbs said that Leffler’s Chevrolet would be sponsored by FedEx. Leffler will be a teammate to Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte.