SURPRISE, Ariz. | Alex Rodriguez's decision to undergo surgery on his hip is fueling rumors that the Yankees are interested in Mark Teahen as a temporary replacement at third base.</p><p> Royals officials, for now, are brushing off the speculation, and general manager Dayton Moore has long maintained that Teahen is more valuable now to the club than in previous years because of his versatility.</p><p> "What I’m hoping," one Royals official said, "is they sign (second baseman Mark) Grudzielanek. That way, we get a (compensatory) draft pick."</p><p> Teahen, 27, is currently playing third base for Canada in the World Baseball Classic but spent his last two seasons in the outfield. He shifted his focus this spring to second base after the acquisition of Coco Crisp knocked him out of a starting job.</p><p> "I see Mark Teahen being more important to our team today than he has been in the past," Moore said earlier in camp. "That's because our team is better, and his versatility will be a bright spot for our team."</p><p> "He certainly gives Trey (Hillman) a lot of different options (as manager), and he gives us a lot more depth."</p><p> The Yankees are expected to intensify their search for a temporary third baseman in the wake of Rodriguez's announcement that he plans to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.</p><p> Rodriguez is expected to miss at least two months of the season.</p><p> The Yankees' projected in-house replacement is Cody Ransom, who spent most of last season at Class AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Ransom, 33, has just 183 major-league at-bats in an 11-year professional career.</p><p> Teahen slumped to .255 last year after batting .285 and .290 in his two previous seasons. He had 15 homers and 59 RBIs in a career-high 149 games.</p><p> Trading Teahen would likely help the Royals slash a projected $75 million payroll closer to its budgeted $70 million. Teahen is slated to make $3.575 million.</p><p> The Yankees are believed to have some interest in Grudzielanek, although that would force them to shift second baseman Robinson Cano to third base.</p><p> Grudzielanek, 38, chose to become a free agent in the offseason by rejecting the Royals' offer for arbitration. That means the Royals will gain a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the June draft if he signs elsewhere. </p><p><strong>No A-Rod in KC</strong></p><p> If Rodriguez follows through on his announced plans to undergo surgery, he'll miss the Yankees' only trip this season to renovated Kauffman Stadium.</p><p> The Royals open their home schedule with a three-game series against the Yankees on April 10-12. Barring a postseason matchup, the teams won't meet again in Kansas City until 2010.</p><p><strong>Arms Race</strong></p><p> In Sunday's game against the Brewers, Zach Greinke mixed in some curveballs after sticking to a pretty strict diet of fastballs and changeups in his two previous starts.</p><p> “Everybody was mad at me for only throwing fastballs and changeups,” he said. “So I threw some first-pitch strikes with curveballs. It’s an easy way to get a strike. </p><p> “It’s not like it’s a real hard pitch to throw. You just throw it for a strike. I was working on other stuff, but it gets you ahead in the count. Then you can use anything you want. So the pitch worked. Smart coaches.”</p><p> Robinson Tejeda is in a battle for a bullpen job. So it didn’t help when he issued two walks in his first inning, but he escaped the threat and retired seven of his last eight hitters in a three-inning appearance. Jimmy Gobble stranded a runner at second by retiring two batters after replacing Greinke in the fourth inning. It was a nice bounce-back effort after allowing two runs and three hits in his only previous outing.