Article: It's Official: Sano to have Tommy John Surgery

[Squirrel]

Sigh. I got out of bed to read this? I'm going back to bed.

[notoriousgod71]

Paul Molitor. At least he will be able to counsel Miguel during his rehab.

 

 

Furcal.

[raindog]

From Rhett Bollinger: "The MRI found a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in Sano's right elbow. He didn't re-injure it. It just didn't get better."

 

..I promise I'll stop playing armchair doctor soon.

 

But...did they not do periodic MRIs to make sure it was healing? Did they give him an MRI before he started throwing again? If not, I don't get it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

That's a shoulder injury. Surgeries are very invasive and to avoided when possible when it comes to that.

 

edit: Not that TJ isn't invasive, but they have that down to a science nowadays.

 

Nevertheless, you have to listen to your doctor's advice, particularly when he's the most respected man in the field. If the doctor says no surgery, you don't get surgery.

[Brock Beauchamp]

While part of the "rash" is undoubtedly due to medical advances (many of the prospects/players would have just faded away longer ago), I have to wonder if the occurrence so early in so many careers isn't due somewhat to the intensity of youth sports. (Even in my small town, a group of parents have developed a more intense baseball program for kids they expect to excel).

 

There was an article the other day about the advantages of kids participating in a variety of sports while young (referencing Buxton, Mauer, etc). Have to wonder if it isn't better for them not only in developing a variety of tools (the point of the column) but also because varying up activities may prevent repetitive stress.

 

I think this is a real problem and have read several studies/articles that suggest the same.

 

Throwing a baseball is a very unnatural motion on the shoulder and elbow. Exposing still-growing children to the rigors of it in competition can't lead to good results. It doesn't take anything more than common sense to see that.

 

I think this is evidenced in the old baseball saying "throw 95 at age 18, throw 85 at age 22", or however it went. Basically, if you're throwing unnaturally hard at a young age, the common wisdom was that you'd often see a significant drop in velocity as you matured.

[JB_Iowa]

Some insight from Paul Molitor:

 

http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2014/03/01/twinsights-paul-molitor-can-relate-to-miguel-sanos-tommy-john-path/

[DuluthFan]

Sad news for Twins fans.

 

But this is one reason why you don't add someone to the 40 man roster before it's necessary.

[tjsyam921]

When they say they aren't worried about not having surgery sooner seems dumb to me. Whether he misses the whole 2014 season or not. The sooner he has the surgery the farther from it he'll be in 2015.

[Boom Boom]

Now that we know the offensive cavalry isn't coming this year, should the Twins look harder at signing Drew?

[SouthDakotaFarmer]

Lets just hope he doesn't get fat and lose his nimbleness and ability to play the hot corner.

[cmathewson]

The Twins prospects have lost some time of late.

 

e.g.

 

Kennys Vargas is 23, he's only had 1 full minor league season due to injuries/suspensions.

Eddie Rosario is out 50g this year (so will only have half a season).

And then Sano.

 

Can anyone benefit from Sano's spot being open at New Britian?

 

Trying to find a positive here...

 

Could Travis Harrison move up more quickly? Maybe do a A/A+ to A+/AA this year?

 

I wish this surgery has been scheduled sooner, but they did consult James Andrews, so I can't (or we) shouldn't plant this one on the Twins medical staff, as you're not going to get better advice than that.

 

Definitely disappointing...though, a few reports said that the reason Sano had such a 'tough' 2nd half at New Britian last year was because of the elbow injury was already bothering him there. So that .236 average and higher K rate (still not alarming, he also increased his BB rate) could also be alleviated with this surgery - of which many of us were expecting him to 'work out' through playing.

 

Which...really is the only thing keeping Sano from being the Twins every day 3B...

 

If the elbow was healthy and he somehow hit .310 there last year, he's the opening day Twins 3B this year.

 

So hoping this surgery will do for him what we hoped a few ABs would do for him.

 

I don't believe he was going to spend much time at New Britain this year, if any. This helps a couple of guys who are in make-or-break years: Plouffe and Romero. The main downside for the Twins is in 2015. The timetable was for him to be the starer on opening day 2015. This makes that unlikely.

[cmathewson]

That's a shoulder injury. Surgeries are very invasive and to avoided when possible when it comes to that.

 

edit: Not that TJ isn't invasive, but they have that down to a science nowadays.

 

I think shoulder surgery has advanced as fast as TJ, just less openly. I think of two recent cases: Jesse Crain and Sam Deduno, who both had rotator cuff and labrum surgery in September and were back pitching at full speed the following spring.

[twinsfan34]

Tommy John Surgeries by team and by year.

 

The Twins have actually had it 'pretty good' compared to say, Atlanta, etc.

 

Although, the caliber of the players it hits might have to do with it being more 'memorable' for some teams.

 

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/11/4/3587834/MLB-tommy-john-surgeries-a-more-complete-list

[tcarlic]

What pisses me off and saddens me about this situation is that if they knew it was partially torn in October (and rest RARELY working) why not have him have surgery then with the possibility of being back in July and definitely August and September? Antony sounds like an idiot in that interview on MLB.com. Eight months would not have lost him the 2014 season! Waiting until March does lose his season! ******* idiots! I know people complain about the coaching staff, but the medical staff needs to go IMO. They are hands-down the worst in the league. Enough is enough.

 

/rant

[twinsfan34]

It's nice to know some players had it and came back still able to throw heat.

 

Strasburg, Nathan, Wainwright, Billy Wagner, etc.

 

Not too worried about it affecting Sano's hitting...just about the arm getting back to '80' grade.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/545364-mlb-power-rankings-20-players-to-undergo-tommy-john-surgery

 

 

Jose Canseco, had a 40 HR season after the surgery.

[twinsfan34]

Complete list of Tommy John Surgeries courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

 

 

Notable position players here:

 

[h=3]Selected Non-Pitchers[/h]

• Roberto Alomar
  
• Rocco Baldelli
  
• Jay Buhner
  
• José Canseco (the injury was caused during a pitching appearance)
  
• Shin-Soo Choo
  
• Trace Coquillette
  
• Carl Crawford
  
• Ben Davis
  
• Rafael Furcal
  
• Craig Gentry
  
• Luis Gonzalez
  
• Rusty Greer
  
• José Guillén
  
• Brad Hawpe
  
• J.R. House
  
• Todd Hundley
  
• César Izturis
  
• Trey Lunsford
  
• Kelly Johnson
  
• Carlos Martínez
  
• Justin Maxwell
  
• Xavier Nady (twice)
  
• Ray Olmedo
  
• Jay Payton (twice)
  
• Luke Scott
  
• Taylor Teagarden
  
• Tony Womack
  

[Brock Beauchamp]

What pisses me off and saddens me about this situation is that if they knew it was partially torn in October (and rest RARELY working) why not have him have surgery then with the possibility of being back in July and definitely August and September? Antony sounds like an idiot in that interview on MLB.com. Eight months would not have lost him the 2014 season! Waiting until March does lose his season! ******* idiots! I know people complain about the coaching staff, but the medical staff needs to go IMO. They are hands-down the worst in the league. Enough is enough.

 

/rant

 

Sano was recommended rest and rehab by the most respected TJS doctor on the planet, not Twins doctors.

[Nate Haseman]

I'm concerned about all these prospects starting their service time at the same time. Doesn't that mean they all reach the end of their contract at the same time?

[cmathewson]

Sano was recommended rest and rehab by the most respected TJS doctor on the planet, not Twins doctors.

 

This. If he had been a pitcher, the recommendation might have been different. But even Dr. James Andrews recommends trying rest and rehab first for a lot of pitchers. And he makes his living on surgery.

 

I understand the frustration, and I have expressed it in cases like Liriano, Neshek, Gibson and Wimmers. But I can't argue with this one.

[troyhobbs]

This is an example of why I think it's best to try and build a competitive team every year instead of throwing seasons and hoping things work out in the future just because you have some farm talent. Now that Sano and Rasario have had set backs will 2017 be the new year the Twins shoot for relevancy?

[Guest USAFChief]

This is an example of why I think it's best to try and build a competitive team every year instead of throwing seasons and hoping things work out in the future just because you have some farm talent. Now that Sano and Rasario have had set backs will 2017 be the new year the Twins shoot for relevancy?

Couldn't agree more. . IMO the proper way to construct a MLB team is to focus on MLB talent and then make room for minor leaguers when they force the issue, rather than the other way around.

[Brock Beauchamp]

This. If he had been a pitcher, the recommendation might have been different. But even Dr. James Andrews recommends trying rest and rehab first for a lot of pitchers. And he makes his living on surgery.

 

I understand the frustration, and I have expressed it in cases like Liriano, Neshek, Gibson and Wimmers. But I can't argue with this one.

 

Yep. We've all had our hair-tearing and teeth-gnashing moments in regards to the Twins medical staff but at the end of the day, none of us are surgeons, none of us have seen the players' MRIs/charts, and none of us were in the room when the decision was made.

 

So we should probably just stick to things we do know and leave the doctor stuff to the doctors.

[JB_Iowa]

So we should probably just stick to things we do know and leave the doctor stuff to the doctors.

 

What fun is that?

[Raven]

At least this happened while he was still a "prospect". This recovery and rehab will be a real test of Sano's mental toughness along with his physical abilities. Because he hasn't hit the majors yet the Twins shouldn't be tempted to rush the rehab.

[Seth Stohs]

This. If he had been a pitcher, the recommendation might have been different. But even Dr. James Andrews recommends trying rest and rehab first for a lot of pitchers. And he makes his living on surgery.

 

I understand the frustration, and I have expressed it in cases like Liriano, Neshek, Gibson and Wimmers. But I can't argue with this one.

 

Agreed... and yet there are examples (Adrian Salcedo...probably others) where avoiding surgery worked... those examples are just few and far between. Last year, when they had JT Chargois rehab all season and then he had TJ Surgery in August or September, that bugs me. But, it is different for position players.

 

And again, I'll trust Dr. Andrews on this more than anyone.

[diehardtwinsfan]

TJS is pretty common among players nowadays. I remember KC had a rash of surgeries a couple years back.

 

Most teams go through this, it just seems particularly frustrating for the Twins because they've been hit with some of their best players and prospects going down in recent years (Liriano, Baker, Gibson, now Sano).

 

It stings a lot more when your good players go down... Not so much the Alex Wimmers of the world.

 

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Tampa Bay has consistently defied the odds on this one...

 

Edit: posted after I saw the article on this. It's the whitesox.

[Brock Beauchamp]

What fun is that?

 

Heh, sometimes it's no fun at all.

 

But hey, it's the internet, where everyone is knowledgeable about everything but a master of nothing. Why stick to things in your wheelhouse when Wikipedia has all one needs to know about everything?

[sandbun]

Yep. We've all had our hair-tearing and teeth-gnashing moments in regards to the Twins medical staff but at the end of the day, none of us are surgeons, none of us have seen the players' MRIs/charts, and none of us were in the room when the decision was made.

 

So we should probably just stick to things we do know and leave the doctor stuff to the doctors.

 

While I agree in this specific case it seems like they handled this reasonably and in the end we were just unlucky, being wrong over and over again does open you up to criticism, even if the people criticizing aren't doctors.

[Brock Beauchamp]

While I agree in this specific case it seems like they handled this reasonably and in the end we were just unlucky, being wrong over and over again does open you up to criticism, even if the people criticizing aren't doctors.

 

Sure, it opens you up to criticism but that has no bearing on whether the criticism is legitimate.

 

And I simply don't know whether it's legitimate... and neither does anyone else here.

[alskntwnsfn]

The Twins knew there were problems with his elbow last year. This is another example of poor mgmt on the Twins part. Even if the doc says he doesn't "require" TJ surgery because he only has a partial tear, the only reasonable answer the Twins front office should have given is "well we are counting on him being our 3B for the next 8 years, so let's get this taken care of this winter before we really need him." There is no excuse for this situation. My bigger concern is that this could derail his development, both at the plate and in the field. It's not easy to stop hitting for 8 months then pick right up where you left off. Plus there's the weight thing he'll have to attend to.

 

This isn't a surprise. Both the surgery or the way the Twins handled it.

 

This team doesn't think far enough ahead and it doesn't analyze situations or players with much depth. Thank god for our scouting and minor league pitching/hitting coaches or we'd really be in trouble. IMO, the former deficiencies will prevent this team from bringing home a World Series Championship in the next 10 years, even though we have a stacked farm system that will get even better after this year's draft. How's that for spring optimism?