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ARLINGTON, Texas — A lost season for the Texas Rangers has turned even more disheartening: All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez is out for the year with a broken right thumb.
The reigning AL MVP was injured Monday night when his hand hit Mo Vaughn’s bat while making a throw against the Anaheim Angels.
“That’s what happens when the team isn’t going good,” Rodriguez said. “What can I do? But I have a strong mind and I’ll be ready for spring training.”
The two-time AL West champion Rangers are 11½ games behind division-leading Seattle. On June 2, center fielder Ruben Mateo — a rookie of the year candidate — broke his leg and was lost for the year.
Rodriguez, regarded by many as the best all-around catcher in the majors, began the day batting .347 with 27 home runs and 83 RBI.
He was hurt in the first inning as Vaughn struck out swinging while Kevin Stocker was trying to steal second. Stocker was called out by home plate umpire Gerry Davis on batter’s interference.
Rodriguez said Vaughn did nothing wrong, and added the Angels first baseman left a message in the Rangers clubhouse expressing his sorrow.
“I don’t think it was on purpose,” Rodriguez said. “Mo is a very clean player.”
Vaughn expressed sadness.
“It’s just unfortunate because he’s such a great player,” Vaughn said. “Something will be missed from the game these last two months.”
Rodriguez, 28, played earlier this month in his ninth straight All-Star game. He has won eight consecutive Gold Glove awards, an AL record.
Rodriguez, the Rangers’ career hits leader, will have surgery Tuesday afternoon at a Fort Worth hospital to repair the break at the base of his thumb.
Team director of medical services Dr. John Conway said Rodriguez will need 6-10 weeks for the fracture to heal. Rodriguez will be able to resume sports-related activities in 2-4 months.
Conway said there were no guarantees that Rodriguez would be able to fully recover.
“Anytime there’s an injury like this, there’s a possibility for a loss of performance,” Conway said. “But we think he’ll make a full recovery.”
Earlier this year, the Rangers said Rodriguez would spend time in the off-season learning a new position, possibly second base, in hopes of reducing the rigors of catching.
The Rangers purchased the contract of catcher B.J. Waszgis from Triple-A Oklahoma. Rodriguez will be placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday.
“As soon as it happened, my thumb went numb. There was swelling and I knew it was broken and I’d be out for the season,” he said.
This year he had thrown out 16 of 33 (48.5 percent) would-be basestealers. Last year, he caught 54.2 percent, the fifth straight season he led the AL in that category.
Rodriguez won the MVP last year when he hit .332 with an AL-record 35 home runs by a catcher. He had 113 RBI and scored 116 runs.
“I was having a strong season, so it’s disappointing for it to end two months before it was supposed to,” Rodriguez said. “But there’s always next season. I’ll just go out and put up better numbers next year.”
Rangers general manager Doug Melvin said Rodriguez’s season-ending injury, coupled with the loss of Mateo, seemed to sum up his team’s season.
“This is a sad day,” Melvin said. “We always take Pudge for granted that he’s always going to be out there. But you have to realize it can happen to anybody. You wonder which player your team can least afford to lose. He falls into that category.”
Melvin was unsure whether the loss of Rodriguez would mean his team would be more willing to trade impending free agents like David Segui and John Wetteland.
“The clock is still running on our players who are going to be free agents,” Melvin said. “But that doesn’t change our thinking. We’re still going to try and win every game that we can. This does give a chance to some of our young players.”

TORONTO (AP) — Right-hander Esteban Loaiza went to the Toronto Blue Jays from the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in exchange for two minor leaguers.
Loaiza, 28, was 5-6 with a 5.37 ERA for the Rangers, appearing in 20 games, including 17 starts. He has a career record of 44-45 with one save in 160 games.
Loiza began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1995, before joining Texas in 1998.
Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash had been looking for pitching help. Young starters Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay and Kelvim Escobar have struggled this season.
The Rangers got right-hander Darwin Cubillan and second baseman Mike Young.
Cubillan has pitched for both Toronto and Triple-A Syracuse this season. The 25-year-old right-hander was 1-0 with a 9.69 ERA with Toronto. He had six saves and an ERA of 0.55 with Syracuse.
Young, an All-Star second baseman at Double-A, hit .275 with 24 doubles, six homers and 47 RBIs for the Tennessee Smokies.
Second Story
TEXAS RANGERS ACQUIRE RHP DARWIN CUBILLAN AND IF MIKE YOUNG FROM TORONTO BLUE JAYS IN DEAL FOR RHP ESTEBAN LOAIZA
FOR RELEASE: 2:30 (CDT), Wednesday, July 19, 2000
The Texas Rangers announced today that the club has acquired righthanded pitcher Darwin Cubillan and infielder Mike Young from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for righthanded pitcher Esteban Loaiza.
Cubillan, 25, will be assigned from Syracuse of the International League to Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League. Young, 23, will be assigned from Tennessee of the Southern League to Tulsa of the Texas League. Both players have been placed on Texas’ major league roster, putting that number at 36.
Cubillan is 3-1 with a 0.55 era and 6 saves in 24 relief appearances for Syracuse this season. He was with Toronto from May 19-June 24, going 1-0, 8.04 in 7 relief appearances, his first big league action. The righthander defeated Atlanta for his first major league win on June 5.
Cubillan was signed by Toronto as a minor league free agent last November after spending six seasons in the New York Yankees organization. He is a native of Venezuela.
Young is hitting .275 with 6 homers, 47 rbi, and 16 stolen bases at Tennessee this season. The righthanded hitter has played primarily at second base this season but has seen extensive action at shortstop in his four pro seasons. He played in the Class AA All-Star Game last week and was a Florida State League All-Star in 1999, when he batted .313 with 83 rbi and 30 stolen bases at Dunedin. Young has 71 career minor league steals. Drafted by Toronto in the fifth round of the June, 1997 draft, Young is from Covina, CA and attended the University of California-Santa Barbara.
The Rangers have indicated that Young will play shortstop at Tulsa, joining first baseman Carlos Pena and second baseman Jason Romano in the Drillers infield.
Loaiza, 28, is 5-6 with a 5.37 era in 20 games/17 starts with the Rangers this season. He was acquired from Pittsburgh on July 17, 1998 and was 17-17 in 64 games/46 starts with Texas. Loaiza has a career record of 44-45 in 160 games/133 starts with the Pirates (1995-98) and the Rangers. Loaiza is scheduled to start for Toronto on Saturday against Baltimore.
Loaiza’s spot on the roster is expected to be taken by lefthanded pitcher Darren Oliver, who will be activated from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday to start in Anaheim.

DARWIN CUBILLAN_2000 STATS
Team     W-L ERA  G  GS SV IP   H  R  ER BB SO
Syracuse 3-1 0.55 24 0  6  32.2 14 2  2  13 41
Toronto  1-0 8.04 7  0  0  15.2 20 14 14 11 14
MIKE YOUNG_2000 STATS
Team       AVG G  AB  R  H  2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS
Tennessee .275 91 345 51 95 24 5  6  47  36 72 16 5