According to various sources, Alex Rodriguez has decided to have partial surgery on his torn right hip labrum Monday, which would allow him to rejoin the team by mid-May. After discussing his various options with Brian Cashman, his agent, Scott Boras, and noted hip specialist Dr. Marc Philippon, Rodriguez opted to undergo a limited procedure, a so-called "hybrid" approach to repairing the injury rather than simply playing through the pain or fixing in full the bone irregularity in his hip. Rodriguez will reportedly wait until the end of the season to go back under the knife for a more extensive procedure.
"The goal here is to allow Alex to rehab rapidly in a safe manner," said Philippon, who co-runs the Steadman-Hawkins clinic for sports medicine and orthopedic surgery in Vail, Colorado. "The approach we're using is much safer than letting Alex play the way he is now."
Philippon said he was about 85-90 percent certain this first operation would be successful, and almost 100 percent certain A-Rod will need further surgery after the season.
All things considered, I do think A-Rod made the best decision available to him and the Yankees. Although he will be out for at least the first month of the season, the partial operation should help alleviate at least some of A-Rod's most immediate pain, protect his long-term health and enable him to play in the majority of games this year. Seems like a win-win for him and the Yankees, who have to be sweating A-Rod's increasingly problematic contract which handcuffs him to the team through 2017.
Also, as Bernie Williams already noted, A-Rod gets to take a much-needed break from baseball and the intense scrutiny of New York in bucolic Vail. Don't think for a second that A-Rod's two-month exile isn't entirely welcome or won't do him a world of good.
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