AMERICAN LEAGUE UPDATE: PITCHING WOES PLAGUE RANGERS.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The Texas Rangers likely will be within two games of the first-place Angels when they arrive here for a three-game series Monday. That's nothing short of a minor miracle, given that more than one-third of their projected pitching staff is either on waivers or on the shelf with a season-ending injury.

On Friday, the Rangers designated for assignment fifth-starter Pedro Astacio. It was a relatively easy decision given Astacio's 2-8 record and 6.04 ERA.

His likely release comes on the heels of their loss of Opening Day starter Ryan Drese, who faded badly the past month. The Rangers hoped to slip him through waivers and send him to Double-A Frisco (Texas), but Washington claimed him.

After he pitched eight shutout innings in his Nationals debut, against the Angels, the pitching-poor Rangers' decision to release a 14-game winner from 2004 looks even worse.

Manager Buck Showalter's tenure has been marked by an ability to piece together something from a patchwork pitching staff, even if he paid a price this year when relievers Frank Francisco and Carlos Almanzar were lost to season-ending injuries that might be attributed to overuse in 2004.

This time, he has been forced to improvise big time with the rotation. Today, left-hander C.J. Wilson, a reliever by trade coming off Tommy John surgery, will join the rotation, albeit on an 80-pitch limit. Chris Young, the 6-foot-10 right-hander, will have his start pushed to Monday against the Angels.

The Rangers will cross their fingers and hope that Chan Ho Park, he of the 5.15 ERA, will continue to get the fattest run support in the league, support that has enabled him to run off to a startling 7-1 record.

At least they don't have to worry about Kenny Rogers. On Friday, he beat Washington and improved to 9-2 with a 1.98 ERA. And on a staff with more turnover than your corner McDonald's, he is about the only sure thing.

``He does kind of settle things down for everybody,'' catcher Rod Barajas said. ``I'm sitting behind the plate, and this feeling comes over me that, 'Hey, everything is going to be OK. Everything is going to fall into place.' And not just for tonight, for the long haul.''

--Double whammy: Perhaps the two most difficult injuries to recover from in this game are reconstructive knee surgery and elbow ligament replacement, or Tommy John, surgery. Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli is faced with recovering from both procedures.

In the same year.

Baldelli tore up his left knee in the offseason playing ball at home with his brother. He was set to return from that injury at about the midpoint of this season, but in the course of his rehabilitation, he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

So instead of providing a boost to another typically grim Devil Rays season, Baldelli is prepping for the Tommy John procedure next week. And by the time he is ready to play again, by spring training 2006, he will have gone through 16 consecutive months of some sort of rehab.

``Just going through the ACL rehab, I had, obviously, days when I showed up that I just didn't want to be there,'' Baldelli said. ``I showed up every day for seven months. You just get tired of doing the same thing, the same boring stuff every day. I'm sure I'm going to get that again, but you know what? This is my job and this is what I have to do.''

In a typically poor stroke of luck, the Devil Rays released center fielder and inaugural steroid bustee Alex Sanchez in preparation for Baldelli's return. They are now stuck with a platoon of Reggie Taylor and rookie Damon Hollins in center.

--The other burning question in Devil Ray Nation this week - will Lou Piniella still be the manager when Baldelli reports for spring training next year?

Piniella's incessant complaints about owner Vince Naimoli and the club's unwillingness to spend more than its meager $29 million payroll finally pushed Piniella's agent, Alan Nero, to meet with Tampa Bay GM Chuck LaMar.

The general vibe that emerged from that summit: Figure on Piniella getting traded to another club this winter.

The Rays don't want to fire Piniella and pay him the $7 million left on his contract. Piniella doesn't want to quit and leave $7 million on the table.

With a trade, everyone wins. Piniella came to the Devil Rays from the Seattle Mariners, who received outfielder Randy Winn as compensation. The Devil Rays can spin Piniella off to a contender, where he won't have to complain about lack of resources on a weekly basis, and plug one of their 20 or so roster holes in the process.

``It was, as it has been in the past, a constructive session with Alan,'' LaMar told the St. Petersburg Times. ``I anticipate we will continue to share this dialogue in the future.''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) AROUND THE HORN

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE WEEK IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 

- Rich Hammond

(2) Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS

- Matt McHale