Ellis done for the year: cartilage damage in shoulder

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 6:18 PM PDT Comment 41 comments

Per the Chron's Drumbeat blog, Susan Slusser reports that:

Mark Ellis has a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season

The report goes on to say that it's "not related to the right shoulder injury that caused him to miss the 2004 season."

UPDATE (courtesy of calgbear in comments below):

Mark Ellis will miss the rest of the season with cartilage damage in his right shoulder [...] Chips in the shoulder caused the catilage damage, and Ellis believes that he will require surgery to remove the chips and clean up the cartilage damage. He is waiting for a second opinion before moving on the surgery [...] Recovery time is expected to be three to four months, and Ellis said he will be completely ready for spring training.

Well, this should certainly render Ellis cheaper ... whether it renders him not worth re-signing/extending is another question entirely.

No indication in the brief item as to what his recovery timetable will look like -- though the dreaded "s" word is raised.

I don't think anyone's sold on EPatt's defense (though his range looked good initially, he's just not a "natural second baseman") or offense (certainly not good enough to justify his defensive inadequacy); and this development would certainly explain why we've been seeing Pennington at second occasionally.

Grover, you got any second-baseman trade scenarios ready to go?

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Comments

Offer him arbitration

The business smart move for Ellis would be to take arbitration and bring up his value for one more year. And, he will probably get more money in ’09 in arbi than he will in FA this offseason.

I see the future. I see cake.

by Blicks on Sep 11, 2008 5:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

if that's the business-smart decision for Ellis, why in Ba'al's name would the A's offer it?

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 5:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A short-term deal

(not necessarily an arbitration one, though) makes a lot of sense for both sides: Ellis is unlikely to get a great long-term deal under the current circumstances so he’ll want to get his value back up, and the A’s could use another year or maybe two to figure out what they have in Patterson/Petit/Pennington/Cardenas/Weeks. Right now, all of those guys seem either too far away (the latter two) or too crappy to be starting next year.

Overqualified to be an A's fan.

by andeux on Sep 11, 2008 6:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

so you're willing to gamble on his being healthy for '09?

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 6:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What's the risk?

I don’t think the A’s are likely to be very good next year, and I don’t see any clearly better options either on the free agent market (Orlando Hudson is also hurt) or in house (P/P/P all seem like C prospects).

I guess the counterargument is that if they aren’t going to be very good anyway, why bother spending money to keep Ellis around. Personally, I think there’s always some value in putting a slightly more competitive/entertaining team on the field. Even given the injury Ellis has enough upside that he could end up as a good value signing.

Overqualified to be an A's fan.

by andeux on Sep 11, 2008 6:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

you've made an argument for a mutually agreed-upon 1-year extension/deal, not an arb offer

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 6:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ellis's D at 2B also helps the young pitchers.

I see the future. I see cake.

by Blicks on Sep 11, 2008 7:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

even with the cartilage-not-labrum update, I still don't roll those bones

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 6:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It would also be the business smart move for the A's.

Worst case scenario – you have Ellis for 1yr at about the same salary as this year. He’ll act as the stopgap since Patterson looks rather ineffective.

Best case scenario- Ellis leaves and the A’s get the draft pick. One more year of Ellis is not an albatross.

I see the future. I see cake.

by Blicks on Sep 11, 2008 7:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That word doesn't mean what you think it does

Worst-case scenario is Ellis gets a 50% raise over this year’s salary, is unable rehab successfully, and never plays an inning for the A’s again.

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 7:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wish we still had Wash around ...

he’d get Patterson to where he needs to be …

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Sep 11, 2008 5:38 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I dunno 'bout that

Given his anemic bat, “where he needs to be” would be near-Ellis level, which I really don’t think he’s capable of. Yes, Chavvy made huge strides — but Chavvy started younger than EPatt, and had more raw talent to start with.

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 5:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not that they aren't really, really bad ...

but 133 MLB ABs are a little (read: very, very, very) early to be calling his bat anemic …

This is a middle infielder who has posted OPS’s in the upper 800s in AAA — that’s very good.

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Sep 11, 2008 10:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

^(^&

That sucks.

Hopefully he’ll sign a “rehab deal” with the A’s the way Mulder did with the Cardinals… and hopefully it won’t work out as poorly as Mulder’s did…

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 11, 2008 5:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Update from Slusser... it's cartilage damage, not a torn labrum

from the Drumbeat:

Mark Ellis will miss the rest of the season with cartilage damage in his right shoulder, he said Thursday – not a torn labrum, which is the injury that cost the A’s second baseman the 2004 season.

Slusser also says:

In other news: reliever Huston Street apologized to the team for his blow-up with manager Bob Geren in Detroit on Tuesday in a meeting before batting practice on Thursday. Street was irate after being told to walk Gary Sheffield intentionally Tuesday and he yelled at pitching coach Curt Young and had to be separated from Geren after being taking out of the game.

by calgbear on Sep 11, 2008 5:53 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

That's good to hear

I feel really bad for Ellie. He deserves a big payday and recognition for his amazing defense. This injury makes both less likely. I’d bet that bone chips and torn cartilage can be tricky in a player’s throwing shoulder, but I really hope he can work out a deal with the A’s and come back next year.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Sep 11, 2008 6:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

+100

We're just in a team-wide funk. ~Mark Ellis

by #14fan on Sep 11, 2008 7:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahh..excellent.

No torn labrum is good.

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Sep 11, 2008 6:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for that; I updated above per your comment

cocky whacko @('.')@

by monkeyball on Sep 11, 2008 6:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wish every pitcher would yell at the manager when they're told to intentionally walk someone

Odds are, it’s bloody stupid.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Sep 11, 2008 10:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This would be pretty funny.

[Crosby] "Guy that has driven in some big runs for the A's over the years" - Vince Cotroneo

by WaddellCanseco on Sep 11, 2008 10:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That is a shame...hate to hear it.

Coming from someone who had a torn labrum, I dont see how he doesnt opt for surgery. Strengthening it can be an answer and can work, but it will be weaker and so much more prone to dislocation and persistent stmptoms.

Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Sep 11, 2008 5:55 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I can see the A's offering Ellis Arbitration, and I can see them not.

It really boils down to this.

The A’s no longer have a hole at 2nd Base in the Organization. They have Cardenas playing SS in Midland, they have Weeks in Kane County, and they have Patterson ready at the MLB level. They also have several fill in options with Petit and Pennington.

Ellis, even with the injury, might not come that much cheaper. He would at least command the same salary he did this year, probably a bit more. And if the A’s offer Arbitration to Ellis, he might get more than that.

But it would make sense for the A’s and for Ellis to potentially go for that 1 Year Deal. The A’s get 1 more year of a solid defensive 2B with hopefully average offensive production. Ellis gets a year to try to make it for a big long term contract.

Meanwhile, it gives the A’s time to see what their 2B depth does. Will Cardenas stick at SS, or will he have to move back to 2nd Base-either way, there’s a good chance we see him in Oakland come 2010-just at which position after Crosby and Ellis’s departure? If Cardenas can stick at SS, we would probably see Patterson at 2nd Base. If not, we’ll see Pennington or Petit at SS, or even 2B if they think Patterson can not handle the position after all. The next year, we will see how far Weeks has gotten.

There is one trade target that does make sense, however, as Taj pointed out. If the A’s try to go after Arbitration Elligible Dan Uggla from the even-more-cheapskate-than-us-Marlins. Uggla would make the most sense, in my opinion, because he would give us the power that our lineup desperately needs, and from a position of weakness when it comes to offense. We can easily afford his final Arbitration years.

facepalm.jpg

by Zonis on Sep 11, 2008 6:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs