The playoff disaster that was Alex Rodriguez may have been brought out by an injury to his left hip. Rodriguez tore the labrum in his left hip this season and must now undergo surgery to repair it. The recovery timetable is three to six weeks, and the Yankees are hopeful that he’ll be ready to play in June.
The team has very little minor league depth at third base, and there are strong indications that the team is targeting shortstop Stephen Drew as a replacement. The 29 year old has never played third base, and last season he hit just .223/.309/.348 in his injury shortened season. Drew has been a much better offensive player over his career though, and he’s likely looking for a one year deal to showcase his talent for a longer contract in the 2013/2014 offseason.
This news may spark the beginning of Rodriguez to the DH position, and if so, the team could use a new third baseman altogether. The Padres has a surplus at the position, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear rumors on Chase Headley, who can fake the corner outfield, or Jedd Gyorko, who has experience at second base. This certainly makes the offseason more complicated for Cashman, but with the way Rodriguez has played of late, the team is really only losing a couple wins above replacement.
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3 Responses to Rodriguez To Undergo Hip Surgery, Out Three To Six Months, Yankees Targeting Drew
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TIQ IQ
It was pretty clear he was struggling with injury last season, I personally think his hip has been bothering him longer than they’re letting on. He hasn’t had the same explosion in his hips the past two seasons. Personally I don’t want to view this as doom and gloom, I’d rather have Alex healthy, rested, and ready for half a season than injured and laboring through a full season. Maybe he can go on a 2009 like surge towards the end of the year with a repaired hip.
Not a fan of Drew as the replacement though, it’s not like last year was his first bad or injury shortened season. He hit .252/.317/.396 in 2011, so better than 2012 but not exactly tearing the cover off the ball. Plus even gold glove short stops have a year or two adjustment period moving to 3B, asking Drew to be any more than slightly below average at 3B is probably expecting too much. Scutaro and Keppinger would both be better options, but I guess we’re bargain bin shopping so we’ll have to take what we can get.
Joel Sherman slammed the Stephen Drew ideas: he denied the Diamondbacks’ request that he play third last year, coming back from the injury; Joel also claimed that Drew wouldn’t want to demean his “value” by becoming a utility player. (The guy is an annoying skeptic, but he may be right this time.)
Chavez seemingly was quite worn down, replacing Alex for August: he looked stiff in the playoffs. However, rather than trading prospects for Headley, I’d be in favor of assembling a platoon at third of Chavez and Nix/Nunez or a reclamation project, such as good ol’ Chone Figgins! Yeah, I still respect what he did for the Angels, and what a sparker.
I think one of my ex-girlfriends had a torn labia, so I know that it can be very painful.