Cashman to monitor Jeter in Trenton rehab

Rain disrupted Derek Jeter's final workout in Tampa on Friday, but the shortstop still is on target to return to the Yankees' lineup Monday night in Cleveland and resume his pursuit of his 3,000th hit.

Jeter, on the disabled list since June 14 with a right calf strain, flew on Friday to Trenton, N.J., where he'll begin a two-game stint with the Yankees' Double-A affiliate Saturday.

"If everything goes right, we'd look to get him into Cleveland," general manager Brian Cashman said before Friday night's game against the Mets. "But we'll see what we see first."

Cashman will be on hand to personally monitor the starts. The intent, he said, is not for Jeter to play nine innings, but game circumstances will dictate how long he plays.

"Say he has three at-bats in the first four innings, say he hits a triple, goes hard, has a couple of defensive plays," said Cashman, who will decide when Jeter comes out. "Maybe you planned on having him play seven innings, maybe you cut it back to five because there were so many chances and a lot of baserunning."

A much-discussed topic before he got hurt was the possibility that Jeter, six hits short of 3,000, would reach the milestone at Citi Field.

"I was asked a question today about how I feel playing a game without Derek here," Mets manager Terry Collins said Friday. "No. 1, I love to compete against the best there is. I'm not disappointed he's not here. I know they're not disappointed David [Wright] is not here. As I've said all along, at the major-league level, nobody feels sorry for you. This game is about the best players in baseball playing. I wish him the best starting Monday.''

SEE PHOTOSDerek Jeter timeline

With Anthony Rieber