Peter Abraham is reporting that A-Rod will not have surgery to repair a torn labrum and cyst in his hip, and will opt for rest and rehab instead. This would allow him to get back on the field quicker. I do not know what the medical implications of this decision are, and whether failed rehab would mean having the surgery later in the season. Is it better to play through it, or just take care of it? More as it becomes available…
Update Via Pete Abe:
Surgery, if needed, would knock him out four months.
The cyst was large and the hope was having it drained will lessen the stiffness Rodriguez felt.
They’re going to cut down on his time in spring training in the hopes he can get through the season.
This is a similar injury to what Mike Lowell and Chase Utley had. Cashman refused to say what degree the tear was.
That does not sound too promising at all. The Yankees just might have a huge problem on their hands. If this really was such a large cyst, the fact that the Yankees missed it at the end of ‘08 does not speak well for the organization.
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To be perfectly honest, Alex is screwed.
A torn hip labrum is a pretty bad injury, especially for a power hitter. While he’ll likely end up playing through some degree of pain this year (especially if he goes the rehab route), his power numbers will definitely be effected. What makes it worse is that the power numbers will go down when he plays and people will automatically assume it was a steroid-drop off.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I think that the Yankees believe that he can play through it and be fine- otherwise he would have the surgery. He played through it at the end of last season, didnt he?
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Chris H. Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
That is true. I wonder, though, if he played through the cyst and if the tear is something new? Not sure… you would think these guys get their fair share of MRI’s at the end of the year, a process which would eliminate these lingering issues.
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He’s lying!! He doesn’t have a torn labrum! Max Kellerman had a body language/ voice analyst/ lie detection expert/ fortune teller on today who analyzed all of A-Rod’s statements to determine that he’s lying… about everything… all the time. He DOESN’T have a torn labrum. He also precipitated WWI by assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand, he shot the Sheriff AND he shot the deputy, he killed the spider in Charlotte’s Web. Who started the fire that killed Bambi’s mom? A-Rod. He forced Heath Ledger to O/D and dressed up in a Tiger suit to maul Siegfried (or was it Roy?). He exterminated the dinosaurs and caused the supercollider to go off-line. He was the one who actually killed Kirk’s son in Wrath of Khan, and whenever your computer crashes? A-Rod.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
This made me laugh.
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If the Yankees had a replacement-level 3rd baseman to take Arod’s place, I’d advocate for surgery. He’s be back in the beginning of June, and wouldn’t have any long term lingering issues to deal with. But the drop down from Arod to his replacement (Cody Ransom?) is so far that the Yankees have no choice but to let him play through it. He’ll probably have off season surgery.
Expect a lot of cortisone shots stories this season.
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Didn’t he discover the internet too? oops, that was Al Gore
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