A week into the season Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey, Jr. are both on the disabled list with shoulder injuries. However, aside from the prominent profiles of both players and the location of the injuries, the two cases aren't very much alike.

Derek Jeter injured his left shoulder when he slid head first into third base, colliding with Ken Huckaby's shin guard covered knee. The game was one of many we watched on what was Opening Day for many teams. As we watched my first instinct was that they were taking extra care due to Jeter's importance to the team and he wasn't seriously hurt. When we watched the replay several times while he still lay on the field, I began to believe he might have extensive damage and started thinking of Alex Gonzalez as a worst-case scenario.

I have not previously discussed Jeter's injury, as I first wanted to hear both the first and second opinions he received. Luckily for the Yankees, Jeter likely won't need to undergo surgery and could return to the team in as little as 6 weeks. The MRI revealed a small tear in his labrum, so he'll want to rest and give that time to heal. However as the injury was to his left shoulder and he throws with his right arm, he will be able to return faster than if he needed to build throwing strength. His main concern during rehab will be how he feels swinging a bat, but it will probably be another week before he begins that kind of work. I suspect the Yankees will encourage him to spend all the time he needs rebuilding strength in the joint, but I don't believe they'll bother with a rehab assignment of more than a week. Consequently, I expect he'll return sometime within a few days of May 19th, though Jeter will almost certainly receive additional rest days this year. I also doubt he'll see a return to 20 homer power this year, as the shoulder probably won't be 100% before next year.

New York called-up Erick Almonte to replace Jeter on the roster. The Yankees signed Almonte as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1996. After spending a year with their Dominican Summer League team, he moved to their Rookie-level Gulf Coast team in 1997. Almonte spent 1998 at A Greensboro in the South Atlantic League and most of 1999 at A+ Tampa in the Florida State League before advancing to Norwich in the AA Eastern League for the 2000 season. The 25-year-old then spent the majority of the 2001 and 2002 seasons at AAA Columbus in the International League, though he made his Major League debut during a cup-of-coffee in 2001. He's struggled with his plate discipline but possesses solid power skills and marginal speed.

Almonte likely will serve as the Yankees starting shortstop until Jeter's return, however Enrique Wilson also will receive a boost in his playing time. New York is lucky that Jeter isn't out for the season, but given the rest of their roster, several weeks with Almonte's production in place of Jeter's should not cost them a substantial number of games.

I did not have the opportunity to witness the Griffey injury live, as we were in Milwaukee for a rotisserie league auction on Saturday. On our way home, we turned on the radio to listen to the Cubs game and heard someone had left with a shoulder injury earlier in the game but missed the name. I immediately worried Corey Patterson had hurt himself diving headfirst on an attempted steal. We waited another 20 minutes before hearing that Griffey was the injured player.

Evidently, Griffey dislocated his right shoulder when he awkwardly dove for a Paul Bako hit that eventually landed for a triple. Griffey's injury filled history likely influenced my immediate belief that this was a more serious problem than that suffered by Jeter. The fact that it took place in the outfield rather than on the bases made me think of Phil Nevin.

As with Jeter, Griffey's non-throwing shoulder is the afflicted joint. Unfortunately, team doctors had some difficulty returning the shoulder to its proper position, which probably indicates more damage. They still believe he will be able to rehab the injury and can avoid season ending surgery. However, I don't expect him to return to the Reds before mid-June.

Griffey is older than Jeter and hasn't been known to heal quickly. While his legs have been the focus of most of his recent health problems, it is unlikely his large arm muscles will heal at faster rate than his major leg muscles have in the past. One factor Griffey has working in his favor is that, at least in recent years, he has not suffered any other injuries to the shoulder that would have stretched the capsule. Regrettably, whether he's able to successfully rehab the injury or eventually needs surgery, his shoulder will now be another potential problem area, which will be more susceptible to this type of injury in the future.

The Reds will call up Jose Guillen to replace Griffey on the roster. Guillen will serve as a reserve outfielder, while the right-handed Ruben Mateo and lefty-hitting Reggie Taylor platoon as the starters in center. Taylor almost certainly will receive the majority of the newly available at-bats. Bob Boone also has shown some interest in occasionally using Barry Larkin as the centerfielder, which would free more playing time for Felipe Lopez at short. However, Larkin appears adverse to the idea of playing center regularly.