Life is pretty funny sometimes. I was sitting in my office late in the afternoon thinking about what I was going to write about tonight.
I kid you not, I was really going to write a “David Aardsma: What’s His Trade Market?” post. It seemed pretty logical considering that the Seattle Mariners aren’t going anywhere in 2011 and Aardsma, coming off a year where he had 31 saves and a respectable 3.44 ERA, has some trade value.
That idea went up in smoke in about 10 minutes because it was reported earlier today that Aardsma will undergo left hip surgery to repair a torn labrum.
This news really came out of nowhere and really put an end to any trade rumor or value Aardsma had this offseason.
According to the Seattle Times, Aardsma been bothered by pain in his left hip area since the end of the season. Aardsma and the Mariners originally thought it was an oblique injury, but when the injury didn’t go away this offseason, Aardsma knew something was wrong.
That’s when he went to went to see Dr. Mark Phillipon and Dr. Phillipon recommended the surgery. Aardsma will go under the knife on Monday.
Happy New Year Mr. Aardsma!
Aardsma will be sidelined four-to-eight weeks. If that estimate is correct, then he should be ready for Opening Day.
Whether Aardsma is ready or not for Opening Day is not the issue here; the issue for the Mariners is that they can’t trade a guy who’s value now has appeared to peak in the last two seasons.
Now if the Mariners want to trade Aardsma during the season, they are going to have to let him re-establish his value. Considering that he saw his K/9 drop from 10.1 in 2009 to 8.9 in 2010 and his ERA rise from 2.52 to 3.44, that might be a tall task.
If Aardsma isn’t ready for Opening Day, look for Brandon League to get the first crack at closing games for the Mariners in 2011.
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