Wang Fears Shoulder Surgery Needed
Via Bryan Hoch:
Chien-Ming Wang is concerned that his 2009 season may be over, having sought a second opinion as he continues to feel discomfort in his right shoulder, and now Dr. James Andrews will get his chance to take a look.
Wang visited on Wednesday with Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York after suffering a setback earlier in the week while playing catch, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad on Thursday to discuss Wang’s situation.
After reviewing Altchek’s findings, the Yankees are set to next confer with Andrews before discussing Wang’s status further. But at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the 29-year-old Wang said that he is worried that surgery may be necessary.
“I don’t know,” Wang said. “The shoulder, the day I played catch, it still feels the same.”
Wang played catch on the field at Yankee Stadium on Monday, his first on-field activity since being placed on the disabled list July 5, but he had to cut the session short after feeling tenderness in his right biceps.
Back on April 24th, about Wang, his shoulder, and the Yankees, I wrote:
Just about this time last year, Chien-Ming Wang wanted to sign a long-term contract with the Yankees – as Robinson Cano did – but the Yankees weren’t interested. And, at the same time, stories started coming up about Wang having a torn rotator cuff that was never repaired.
Thinking about this now, it makes me wonder: Did the Yankees see this coming with Wang – with “this” being him losing his velocity/stuff on the mound?
If true, do the Yankees deserve a gold star for not signing him long term last year? Or, should they get a demerit for counting on him to be a big part of their rotation this year?
Now, hearing the latest on Wang, I’m starting to think Cashman and his crew should start getting fitted for that big ol’ demerit…right…about…now…
i’m sure at this point Cashman would trade the 2nd best record in the major leagues on 7/23-7/24 in exchange for a demerit from Steve Lombardi.
Cashman was relying on Wang to be a memeber of the rotation. As opposed to…what, exactly?
As opposed to leaving Hughes in the rotation, Wang in the pen, and a still-gaping hole in set-up relief? As opposed to signing a reliable 7th starter with non-existant money in the budget whose payroll is capped at $200 million at the start of the season, which was filled in by signing Texiera? As opposed to signing 3 more 8th starter types of the waivers pile, like Mitre, just so people could knock those guys as in “oh, yeah, that’ll solve the team’s pitching problems”, not to mention completely jam up Scranton’s rotation?
I look around the major leagues, and I see other GMs counting on pitchers who came into the season with pitchers in the rotation who they also knew had some physical problems, some even known to be having some question or problem with their pitching arms, pitchers whose injuries/performance have hurt their team. For example:
The Diamondbacks and Brandon Webb.
The Angels and Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar.
The Mariners and Erik Bedard (it’s always SOMETHING with Bedard)
The Twins and Francisco Liriano.
The Tigers and Jeremy Bonderman.
The Mets and John Maine.
The Marlins and Anibal Sanchez.
The Cubs and Rich Harden (who/s hurt every season).
Every team comes into the season with question marks. $200 million reduces the question marks to some extent, but can’t eliminate them. Wang’s health was assumed to be sufficient for him to perform adequately before the season.
Think through the chronology. See what was already committed to, then add the salaries of Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixiera, and remember that Swisher was added BEFORE Teixiera, not after.
Then tell me how, exactly how, in any practical manner, Cashman could’ve avoided starting the season assuming Wang would be in the rotation somewhere. I’d be interested to know how that’s done.
I’m with Evan on this one — here Cashman gets a pass. (And I am no Cashman lover, to be sure.) The decision not to offer Wang a long-term deal reflected prudent long-term concerns, not a worry about this year in particular.
If a mistake was made with Wang, it was to advise him to rest over the winter to let his foot injury heal properly. His arm was not in shape by the spring, and it showed early in the year. Possibly he injured the shoulder by trying to compensate for arm weakness (just a guess); almost certainly, the Yankees brought him back from the DL too quickly. But I cannot fault the team for prescribing limited work last winter. There is not much of a history for how best to deal with Lisfranc injuries, unlike the more familar Tommy John recovery program..
In terms of back-up plans, going into the year the Yankees did have several minor-league arms available to step in — Hughes, Aceves, and Kennedy. The first two were needed for the bullpen as other arms failed there, while Kennedy went down with an injury and surgery. In other words, the starting pitching went eight-deep before the season (and that doesn’t count Mitre).
Now the real issue is what to do. A case can be made for making a deal to get a starter before the trade deadline. One reason for building a strong minor league system is to turn some of those assets into useful pieces for the major league team for the stretch run and, hopefully, the play-offs. That is really the discussion we should be having.
$200 million reduces the question marks to some extent
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No it doesn’t; a player’s salary does not prevent injury.
I didn’t mean that; I meant the $200 million allows a team to be built with more star players, and hence, more able to overcome inevitable injuries.
It also allows you to buy players known to be healthy more often, as opposed to having multiple questionable players on the roster or in the rotation before the season even starts.
Those two ideas were what I meant. Sorry for not being clear about that.