A-Rod Officially Out 6-9 Weeks To Repair Torn Labrum

The Yankees announced on a conference call this morning that A-Rod will go under the knife to repair the torn labrum in his hip, but not the bone impingement in his hip. According to his doctor, this is a very viable option to get through the season without losing too much productivity. The surgery can be revisited in the offseason so they can repair the bone damage.

The Yankees are typically conservative, so we'll assume A-Rod will be out 9 weeks and make his season debut sometime in the 2nd week of May. Barring any setbacks, A-Rod will debut at the New Yankee Stadium on May 15 against the Twins when the Yankees begin a 10 game homestand.

While we're talking about A-Rod, in a long-winded blog entry/op-ed column (boy is it scary when you give columnists free reign to operate without word limitations), Lisa Olson writes that A-Rod created unnecessary drama with this hip injury by letting his brother run to the media with the original prognosis.

Lisa is a veteran of the NY Media, so she is just doing what they do best - picking apart every move that Alex Rodriguez makes. When you have been the picture of health like A-Rod has been in his career, it is pretty understandable to confide in your brother when surprising and terrible news about a torn labrum is revealed. Give it a rest, NY Media.

Along these same lines, but with a much more sensible argument, is this post on the Yankee blog Pinstripe Alley. They point out that A-Rod is being put in a bad spot by the Yankees and they have the power to make the decision for A-Rod. With today's news of the "hybrid" surgery, both sides are likely appeased, so it seems they have fought to a duel, if there was indeed an internal battle over the proper course of action.

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Brian Cashman failed to protect his assets

For the past two days, it has been widely reported that Alex Rodriguez felt discomfort in his infamous hip as early as the end of last season. As per Kat O'Brien on March 3:

A source close to Rodriguez said tightness and stiffness have bothered him in his right hip since the end of last season. However, it was never a major concern. Rodriguez was not believed to have been receiving medical treatment for the issue, but merely working with strength and conditioning coach Dana Cavalea to try to increase flexibility in his hip.
“He has had a hip issue for quite a while,” the source said. “It was hindering his bat speed. I know in the offseason, he was working on it to get looser.”

If strength and conditioning coach Dana Cavelea knew about the tightness, Rodriguez was clearly open with the Yankees about the injury.

Even more damning evidence comes from this post on the NY Times Bats Blog:

Kevin Long, the Yankees’ hitting coach, said he knew Rodriguez had a hip problem last June or July. Long noticed subtle changes in Rodriguez’s hitting, notably in his right foot, the back one in his stance.

The $275 million dollar question is why the hip was not examined towards the end of the 2008 season. If today's prognosis had been revealed in September (or earlier), surgery would have been an option for a full recovery by the beginning of 2009. The Yankees were effectively eliminated from the playoffs by September 1 last year, so a playoff push is not an excuse.

Brian Cashman has been open in defining A-Rod as an asset that needs to be protected in response to the Yankees support amidst the steroid controversy. A couple of weeks Cashman said:

“We’ve invested in him as an asset. And because of that, this is an asset that is going through a crisis. So we’ll do everything we can to protect that asset and support that asset and try to salvage that asset.”

The $275 million dollar asset complained of hip discomfort since the end of the 2008 season, but he never had it examined until Spring Training 2009. Someone wasn't doing a very good job of protecting his assets.

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