Alex Rodriguez To Have Hip Surgery- Miss Part of 2013 Season

[Zimmers' Helmet]

According to ESPN A-Rod will have his surgery in mid January. Why wait that long?

Docs want him to do pre-rehab to strengthen the hip prior to surgery. The idea is to minimize the amount of post-surgery rehab he'll need to regain strength and mobility.

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

Whatever whether it was steriods in whole, in part or not at all, the reality is the Yanks are stuck with a $22.5M per year singles hitter with sub par defense plus "up to" $30M in HR milestone bonuses many of which besided the Mays and possibly Ruth ones now look unatainable over the next 5 years.

I hope he comes back as a useful player but I'm not really that hopeful.

Wasn't that Derek Jeter for like the last 10 years?

[BeantownYankee]

Wasn't that Derek Jeter for like the last 10 years?

Seriously? Guess you don't follow the yankees...

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

Seriously? Guess you don't follow the yankees...

I am being a bit facetious... However, in the last two years A-Rods slugging and OPS+ are virtually identical to Jeters from 2001-2010. Obviously there's much more to it than that overall, but I was just poking fun of the fact that Jeter is, by the definition above, a singles hitter with sub-par defense, and his salary during that time period was just about 19M/year.

[Messerwhitescooter]

So, as currently constituted (which is obviously not how I expect it to end up), a third of the opening day lineup will be Nunez, Nix, Romine. Fun times.

This is just a hunch, but those last two words were sarcastic, weren't they?

[dont_ya_know24]

i can see arod returning and being very productive, especially so as the primary DH. he's going to be here for another five years, we might as well get behind our guy.

[Messerwhitescooter]

i can see arod returning and being very productive, especially so as the primary DH. he's going to be here for another five years, we might as well get behind our guy.

I have no doubt he will try very hard to rehab himself and be as productive as possible, and you make an excellent point that we should get behind him. However, what I saw near the end of the season was he seemed to have trouble seeing the ball, and for that there may not be rehab.

[Bub]

Surgery still hasn't happened...Post reports that it may be another couple of weeks. I don't get the delay, and I really don't get why folks aren't screaming about it. If this could have been done in early Novemeber but instead will be done in mid January, that's over 2 months of playing time (worth how much money?) that seems to be needlessly thrown away.

[fredgmuggs]

Surgery still hasn't happened...Post reports that it may be another couple of weeks. I don't get the delay, and I really don't get why folks aren't screaming about it. If this could have been done in early Novemeber but instead will be done in mid January, that's over 2 months of playing time (worth how much money?) that seems to be needlessly thrown away.

I recall reading someone here posted that he needed to some required pre-surgery strengthening before the surgery was to be performed.

[Bub]

I recall reading someone here posted that he needed to some required pre-surgery strengthening before the surgery was to be performed.

I suppose that makes some amount of sense, but 2 months? Plus you would think that his hip muscles were in excellent shape to begin with since the players are always working out during the season.

[geoffman]

I suppose that makes some amount of sense, but 2 months? Plus you would think that his hip muscles were in excellent shape to begin with since the players are always working out during the season.

Thats what I was wondering about.

If it were me having the surgery I could understand but Arod? How strong does it need to be? I have a weird feeling we wont be seeing him in 2013. I hope I am wrong though.

[fredgmuggs]

I suppose that makes some amount of sense, but 2 months? Plus you would think that his hip muscles were in excellent shape to begin with since the players are always working out during the season.

The cynic in me thinks the Yankees expect him to miss the season and there isn't a rush to get the surgery done.

[yank4life2005]

I hope we don't see him until September. Let him get to 100% and come back strong for 2014

[ymike673]

Surgery still hasn't happened...Post reports that it may be another couple of weeks. I don't get the delay, and I really don't get why folks aren't screaming about it. If this could have been done in early Novemeber but instead will be done in mid January, that's over 2 months of playing time (worth how much money?) that seems to be needlessly thrown away.

Maybe the Yankees were wrong about the recovery time and with the signing of Youkilis would rather just push back A Rod's surgery so he will miss all of the 2013 season. Maybe there is a clause in A Rod's contract that if he misses an entire season the Yankees can void it. Anyone have any better ideas?

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

Maybe the Yankees were wrong about the recovery time and with the signing of Youkilis would rather just push back A Rod's surgery so he will miss all of the 2013 season. Maybe there is a clause in A Rod's contract that if he misses an entire season the Yankees can void it. Anyone have any better ideas?

There is definitely no such clause.

At any rate, the surgery was initially reported in early December, and it was said he'd need 4-6 weeks of rehab before it could take place. I don't think that was some kind of smokescreen, so I don't think there's anything significant to conclude from the fact that he hasn't yet had the surgery, given that the projected rehab period isn't up yet. There are clear roles for both Youkilis and a healthy A-Rod to fill on the 2013 Yankees, so I can't imagine the team would prefer to simply wait with A-Rod and lose the entire year since they now have Youkilis. There may be somewhat less of a sense of urgency given Youk's signing, but even performing at the level he did in 2012, A-Rod will very likely be better than whomever will take his place in the lineup while he's injured, so I'm sure the team would much rather have him for half a season than not at all.

[Jerkface]

The Yankees can collect insurance if he misses an entire season on the DL. But the moment he is off the DL the insurance stops, so they can potentially recoup a portion of 2013's salary if he is on the DL. This is speculation, partly, as articles have mentioned him needing to be on the DL an entire year for insurance payments to start. I don't know if it has to be a year+ more or anything.

Anyone wishing for A-rod to stay on the DL for 2013 should be very wary. If A-rod doesn't managed to hit 13 HRs in 2013 then the Yankees will be guaranteed to eat his 6 million milestone bonus in 2014, meaning they will have to plan for an extra 6 million in space for the end of the year.

Turning 189 into 183.

[ieddyi]

There is definitely no such clause.

At any rate, the surgery was initially reported in early December, and it was said he'd need 4-6 weeks of rehab before it could take place. I don't think that was some kind of smokescreen, so I don't think there's anything significant to conclude from the fact that he hasn't yet had the surgery, given that the projected rehab period isn't up yet. There are clear roles for both Youkilis and a healthy A-Rod to fill on the 2013 Yankees, so I can't imagine the team would prefer to simply wait with A-Rod and lose the entire year since they now have Youkilis. There may be somewhat less of a sense of urgency given Youk's signing, but even performing at the level he did in 2012, A-Rod will very likely be better than whomever will take his place in the lineup while he's injured, so I'm sure the team would much rather have him for half a season than not at all.

But, this is prehab not rehab. We don't have the details, but 6 weeks seems like a large amount of time for prehab since the invasive surgery is gonna require extensive rehab reagardless

Seems like there might be more going on

[ymike673]

The Yankees can collect insurance if he misses an entire season on the DL. But the moment he is off the DL the insurance stops, so they can potentially recoup a portion of 2013's salary if he is on the DL. This is speculation, partly, as articles have mentioned him needing to be on the DL an entire year for insurance payments to start. I don't know if it has to be a year+ more or anything.

Anyone wishing for A-rod to stay on the DL for 2013 should be very wary. If A-rod doesn't managed to hit 13 HRs in 2013 then the Yankees will be guaranteed to eat his 6 million milestone bonus in 2014, meaning they will have to plan for an extra 6 million in space for the end of the year.

Turning 189 into 183.

I want A Rod back in 2013 but considering the number of HR's he hit last season he might not be able to hit 13 HR's next season if he ends up playing less than half a season.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

But, this is prehab not rehab. We don't have the details, but 6 weeks seems like a large amount of time for prehab since the invasive surgery is gonna require extensive rehab reagardless

Seems like there might be more going on

Unless you're a medical professional, and one with knowledge of A-Rod's situation, I think it's foolish to speculate about what might or might not be necessary to get him ready for surgery. Do you really think that A-Rod and the Yankees were lying when they said in December that A-Rod's doctor wanted him to have 4-6 weeks of physical therapy before having surgery, all as some ploy to have him miss the entire season? That doesn't make much sense to me.

[goin for 27]

I suppose that makes some amount of sense, but 2 months? Plus you would think that his hip muscles were in excellent shape to begin with since the players are always working out during the season.

Meh. Let's say that there were very specific muscle related exercises that ARod would need to do pre-surgery....how much benefit is there in doing them for 2, 3, 4 weeks? A couple of months of specific preparation sounds reasonable to me.

[longtimeyankeefan]

Meh. Let's say that there were very specific muscle related exercises that ARod would need to do pre-surgery....how much benefit is there in doing them for 2, 3, 4 weeks? A couple of months of specific preparation sounds reasonable to me.

A couple of months is very reasonable - I spent eight years working in the field of physical therapy, including two years as an athletic trainer at the US Naval Academy. Virtually every elective surgery patient received preoperative exercise programs, some for extended periods of time.

Strengthening the muscles around the joint to be operated on makes for a faster recovery overall.

[-tz]

A-Rod on schedule for hip surgery:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseba...gery-1.4406870

Alex Rodriguez has not suffered any setbacks in his preparation for hip surgery and has a tentative date for the procedure, according to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

"We have a tentative date, but I'm not going to reveal it," Cashman said Friday.

Asked if Rodriguez still is on the original schedule for the procedure, Cashman said: "That's correct."

The Yankees announced Dec. 3 that Rodriguez would have surgery in January after four to six weeks of "pre-rehabilitation." Rodriguez, who had surgery on his right hip in 2009, will have his left hip operated on this time. He is not expected back until June at the earliest.

[kan_t]

The Yankees can collect insurance if he misses an entire season on the DL. But the moment he is off the DL the insurance stops, so they can potentially recoup a portion of 2013's salary if he is on the DL. This is speculation, partly, as articles have mentioned him needing to be on the DL an entire year for insurance payments to start. I don't know if it has to be a year+ more or anything.

Anyone wishing for A-rod to stay on the DL for 2013 should be very wary. If A-rod doesn't managed to hit 13 HRs in 2013 then the Yankees will be guaranteed to eat his 6 million milestone bonus in 2014, meaning they will have to plan for an extra 6 million in space for the end of the year.

Turning 189 into 183.

The cap limit is based on AAV. $6M to A-Rod's $252M over 10 years contract is minimal.

[Jerkface]

The cap limit is based on AAV. $6M to A-Rod's $252M over 10 years contract is minimal.

No, that is not how it is calculated. Performance Bonuses are applied only to the year in which they earned. One of the complaints, & the reason personal service / marketing performance is no longer allowed, is precisely that they were not included as AAV so teams could potentially have used them to get around the cap by juggling numbers around for specific years.

Any season in which A-rod reaches a 6 million dollar milestone will count as 33.5 against the cap instead of 27.5

[LongtimeNYYFan]

Surgery still hasn't happened...Post reports that it may be another couple of weeks. I don't get the delay, and I really don't get why folks aren't screaming about it. If this could have been done in early Novemeber but instead will be done in mid January, that's over 2 months of playing time (worth how much money?) that seems to be needlessly thrown away.

Surgery was always scheduled for January. It hasn't been delayed. Rodriguez is on a prescribed pre-surgery exercise program to strengthen the affected area before he undergoes the procedure. The exercise prohgram prior to surgery will speed up the recovery and rehab time.