KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- New York Yankees right-hander David Cone will rest his dislocated left shoulder until next week, and will miss at least one start.

		Wed., Sept. 6 The Yankees will miss David Cone's presence, experience and toughness during playoff time. When he's on the mound, Cone is an inspiration to everyone on the team, whether he has his good stuff or not. They still say, "That's David Cone," and that gives them a good feeling. But the Yankees have enough good pitching and have a big enough lead in the AL East to win the division without Cone. In addition, even if he were 100 percent healthy, Cone would not have been in the playoff rotation anyway. He would have been the fifth starter behind Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Denny Neagle. And in the playoffs, teams don't need a fifth starter. It's unlikely that Cone would have been, or will be, a major help out of the bullpen since he's done so little bullpen work in his career. If Cone is still around in uniform with the team, he will be able to talk to people and explain what he's been through. But he wouldn't have been a big factor in the postseason or down the stretch. He hasn't been vintage Cone this season, but he had pitched better in recent starts and helped the Yankees build their six-game lead. Cone's injury is another reason why the Yankees should be commended for getting Neagle before the July 31 trading deadline. They knew if one of their older pitchers break down, they would have another one in place. That's why Neagle was acquired.

"He's not going to do anything between now and the beginning of the week, at which time he'll hopefully start exercising that shoulder and maybe do a little throwing," manager Joe Torre said Wednesday.

Cone underwent an MRI examination Wednesday, a day after he was injured while diving to catch a bunt in the third inning of a 10-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

"The MRI was clean, minimal bruising -- better than I thought," said Cone, who had likened the pain of the shoulder separation to feeling "like my shoulder was up in my neck."

Cone already was in the midst of a bad season when he was injured. He is 4-11 with a 6.16 ERA, and had gone 15 starts without a victory before recently showing signs of improvement.

Torre said the sight of Cone writhing in pain brought back memories of seeing St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson blow out a knee while running bases during a game in 1973.

"Gibson kept saying, 'Don't touch me, don't touch me,' " Torre said. "He (Cone) kept saying to Geno (trainer Gene Monahan), 'Get off me,' and Geno wasn't even on him. I think there was so much pressure on that shoulder, he felt like someone was pushing up against it."

The Yankees have no timetable for Cone's return, Torre said.

"I don't think we're going to know anything until he starts exercising again," Torre said. "Even though that's not his throwing arm, there's still so much involved with pitching that involves the left side.

"Hopefully we can keep his (throwing) arm in shape, we can have him throw enough so that before the season's over he can get out there and pitch again."

Cone, who had won three of his last four decisions after a 1-10 start, had been scheduled to pitch for the AL East leaders on Sunday against second-place Boston.

Torre said he hadn't decided who would get the start Sunday. But he said he was leaning away from giving it to Dwight Gooden, who replaced Cone on Tuesday and went 5 1/3 innings for the win.

"I'd like to keep Doc in the bullpen, because he's done a nice job for us," Torre said. "He gives us some stability, especially not knowing (Ramiro) Mendoza's situation in the bullpen."

Mendoza, who has been plagued by tendinitis in his right shoulder and has not pitched since July 29, threw more than 50 pitches in a simulated game Monday.

Torre also has not set a definite time frame for Mendoza's return to action.

"By the weekend, maybe," he said. "A lot of it depends on how he feels. If he's not comfortable with it, then we'll do what we did the other day one more time."

The Yankees would name Sunday's starter by Thursday, Torre said.