December 04, 2012

A-Rod Needs Hip Surgery: Alex Rodriguez will have surgery in January to repair a torn labrum, bone impingement and cyst in his left hip, a procedure that will require four to six months of rehab time. He's 37 and had surgery on the other hip in 2009, but specialists believe he can make a full recovery. Among the options at third base for the Yankees are Chone Figgins, Mark DeRosa and Eric Chavez.

posted by rcade to baseball at 08:32 AM - 3 comments

Rodriguez will now have surgery around Jan. 1, the delay caused by the fact he must undergo a strengthening program before he can have the operation.
That's... weird to me. Why would you need to strengthen something before getting it operated on? Because, if it's a 4-6 month outage, being able to do it in early December means he can return by early May, versus mid-to-late June. I wonder if these guys do any flexibility training beyond basic calisthenics; seems all the focus is on strength. I think I've told my Griffey/Johnson yoga story here before, but it seems like it would really benefit the aging player who finds their body isn't repairing or staying as loose as it did when they were younger and could take it all for granted.

As I've said before, regardless of his... weirdness as a person... I hate to see A-Rod fall apart like he has (and I don't think it's PED related, so I hope we can nip that in the bud), since he's ~3 decent seasons from breaking a whole bunch of absolutely amazing records. But it sure looks like his body is doing the same thing Griffey's did: hit a wall, crawl along a shadow of your former self, then retire a few years later than you probably should have.

posted by hincandenza at 05:03 PM on December 04, 2012

Starting to really wonder what the Yankees opening day lineup will look like. A-Rod out, Martin gone, Ichiro unsigned.

I thought a healthy A-Rod would have a decent season. Also, letting Martin go made sense....guy strikes out far too much. Seems as if Ichiro, in New York for a full season, would be able to put together a good season. Gardner needs to be healthy the whole year. Maybe the Yanks can sign Michael Bourn and go from a team looking to hit long balls all the time, to a team that steals bases and manufactures runs..

They really have to look at building that way for the future. I'm still not over that playoff debacle.

posted by dyams at 06:18 PM on December 04, 2012

While I wish nothing but losses for the Yankees, Dyams' idea makes a lot of sense. Ichiro still has some wheels, Gardner's known for speed; get Jeter, Granderson and an adequate 5 hitter and the Yankees may go somewhere.

As for the future, all you need to see is the left side of the diamond. Jeter's closing in on retirement; who knows how Rodriguez will perform after the surgery. Throw in Ichiro and Rivera and one has a very aging club.

posted by jjzucal at 06:17 PM on December 06, 2012

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