Salmon to Wait Till ’06

The slim hopes Tim Salmon had of returning from knee and shoulder surgery this season were dashed when the 12-year veteran irritated his left knee while swinging off a tee and was unable to do any lower-body work for most of July.

But Salmon, buoyed by a series of synthetic viscosity injections in his knee last month, says his rehabilitation has “turned a corner” in August, and he is feeling much more confident about returning in 2006.

“I started hitting off a tee again a week ago, and everything feels pretty good,” Salmon, 37, said by phone from his home in Arizona. “I feel excited. Not that I can play this year, but that I might get healthy and be in a position to come back.”

Salmon, who is hitting off a tee three times a week, said his left shoulder, in which four tears were repaired last fall, “feels great.” He hopes to progress to soft toss next week and live batting practice the following week.

“I want to be on the field taking batting practice by the time the season is over so I can treat this like a normal off-season and go into spring training healthy,” said Salmon, who has a career .283 average with 290 home runs and 989 runs batted in. “I’m starting to think that’s realistic.”

Salmon’s four-year, $40-million contract expires this season, and if he returns to Angel camp next February, it will be as a non-roster invitee, under a non-guaranteed minor league deal. That would be fine with Salmon, but would the Angels want him back?

“Absolutely,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

“He’s a special guy who, if his body is able to do it, still has life in his bat to be productive. He had some pretty significant injuries, but he still has a passion to play.”

A more pertinent question: Will there be a designated hitter job for Salmon to compete for?

The Angels haven’t had much production from the DH spot this season, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if they went after a DH this winter,” Salmon said. “But I just want an opportunity to prove to myself and to others that I can still play. It would be an audition for the Angels and every other team, too.”

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Third baseman Dallas McPherson took one step forward and two steps back Friday night, hitting an opposite-field home run in a rehabilitation game for triple-A Salt Lake but experiencing stiffness in his lower back afterward.

McPherson, who has been on the disabled list since July 9, was scheduled to return to Southern California over the weekend and will undergo an examination and possible diagnostic tests Monday. “Hopefully it won’t be long, but it was a setback,” Scioscia said.

The Angels let slugger Troy Glaus go as a free agent last winter to clear third base for McPherson, but while Glaus has 25 home runs and 73 RBIs in 108 games, McPherson has been limited to 61 games because of lower-back, hip and groin injuries and is batting .244 with eight homers and 26 RBIs.

“He’s had some injuries, there’s some history there,” Scioscia said of McPherson, who had a bulging disk in his lower back in the spring of 2003. “But I don’t think there’s a concern that he’s going to be injury prone.”

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After going hitless in four at-bats Friday night, center fielder Steve Finley, who showed signs of emerging from a lengthy slump with a home run and a two-run double in Oakland Wednesday and Thursday, was not in Saturday’s starting lineup. Finley replaced designated hitter Garret Anderson in the seventh inning and had an infield single in two at-bats.