Escobar

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Cleveland Indians outfielder Alex Escobar is out for the season after injuring his left knee while making a catch in a spring training game.

Escobar, the key player in the trade that sent All-Star Roberto Alomar to the New York Mets, will undergo reconstructive surgery after completely tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, the team said Tuesday.

"This is the worst-case scenario," general manager Mark Shapiro said. "We know injuries are part of the game. It is frustrating and disappointing, but we expect him back playing at 100 percent next year."

The 23-year-old got hurt Monday while running into the center-field wall at Bradenton. An MRI showed Escobar tore his ligament and sustained a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament.

"I talked to Alex and he was proud of the catch," Shapiro said. "He said 'It was a great catch.' He has been everything we expected -- a five-tool player with a quick bat, above average arm and speed."

Before getting injured, Escobar was 5 for 10 with two walks and two steals in five exhibition games.

Escobar's injury happened just two days before Alomar is scheduled to play against the Indians for the first time since they traded him to the Mets on Dec. 11.

Escobar was one of five players the Indians got in the deal. He may not have made the club's roster this spring, but Cleveland is counting on big things from him in the future.

"Alex will rehabilitate in Cleveland because we want him to become an integral part of the organization," Shapiro said. "We won't let him get away from baseball. Hopefully, he will be ready to play some winter ball and come to camp next spring as he did this year, with a chance to win a starting job."

Shapiro said the surgery will take place in about two weeks, after swelling around the injury subsides.

Coincidentally, the Indians announced Tuesday that Escobar had signed a one-year contract.

Escobar's injury is just the latest in a rash of setbacks for Cleveland this spring.

Last week, infielder John McDonald underwent an emergency appendectomy and bullpen coach Luis Isaac had 14 inches of his small intestine removed. Also, pitcher Jake Westbrook had elbow surgery and veterans Travis Fryman and Ellis Burks have been slowed by back spasms.

The Indians also signed right-hander Ryan Drese to a one-year contract.

They also released catcher Tim Laker from his major league contract and re-signed him to a minor league deal. Laker has been battling liver and pancreatic ailments during the offseason and has yet to report to camp.