BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : Surgery Today for Van Slyke

Center fielder Andy Van Slyke of the Pittsburgh Pirates will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today in Pittsburgh and will be sidelined for up to three weeks.

Team orthopedist Jack Failla decided to perform the surgery after he discovered cartilage damage during an examination Friday.

If his rehabilitation goes well, Van Slyke might be ready for the season opener on April 6 against the San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh.

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Cleanup hitter Kevin Mitchell of the Cincinnati Reds probably will be sidelined for four to six days because of a broken bone in his left foot.

Mitchell was examined by Dr. Ian Alexander, who recommended that Mitchell be fitted with custom-made inner soles and toe-plates to help relieve pressure on the fracture.

Mitchell homered in his first at-bat for the Reds on Wednesday. But he left the game during the third inning, complaining of a sore foot.

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The Philadelphia Phillies have offered to make Darren Daulton the highest-paid catcher in baseball, reportedly offering a four-year contract worth $16 million.

Phillie President Bill Giles said that the club will continue to negotiate until April 1. If an agreement isn’t reached, he said talks will be continued after the season. “I don’t want any distractions during the season,” Daulton said.

Daulton is in the last season of a $7.25-million, three-year contract. The highest-paid catcher in baseball is Benito Santiago of the Florida Marlins, who will get $3.4 million this year and $3.8 million in 1994.

Last season, Daulton batted .270 with 27 home runs and 109 runs batted in.

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Sandy Alomar Jr., coming back from knee surgery in 1992, made his spring training debut in the Cleveland Indians’ 7-2 victory over the Marlins. Alomar, the starting catcher on the American League All-Star team each of his three years with the Indians, played the first three innings and went one for two. “I’m not 100%, but I felt pretty good,” Alomar said. “I felt like I could have gone five or six innings today, but my leg is pretty weak.” . . . Will Clark continued his hot hitting with a run-scoring single and a double, helping the San Francisco Giants beat a split Colorado Rockies squad, 12-5. “I don’t come to spring training to get ready to hit--I come ready to hit,” said Clark, who is batting .643 with nine hits in 14 at bats and a team-leading six RBIs.