Crawford to have surgery

LF Carl Crawford will undergo surgery Thursday to fix a tendon problem in his right hand and likely - though not absolutely - miss the rest of the regular season, Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said Tuesday.

"If every single thing went extremely well I'd say that there is a chance he could play in a regular-season game,'' Friedman said. "There's just such a small window that I wouldn't say it's likely, but there is definitely a chance.''

Six weeks from Thursday is Sept. 25; the Rays would have four games remaining from that point.

Crawford faces a six-eight week recovery until he is ready to play again in the majors, Friedman said, after what is considered "a fairly simple procedure.''

"We're fairly optimistic that he'll be able to return in six weeks but we'll know a lot more after he is a couple weeks into the recovery,'' Friedman said.

Crawford's problem is that the tendon that runs along his right middle finger is out of the groove because of damage to the tissue band that holds it in place.

Crawford will have the surgery done in Arizona by Dr. Donald Sheridan, a hand specialist that his agents have "a familiarity with" rather than by team doctor Dr. Doug Carlan. Sheridan, who Friedman said is one of the best wrist and hand doctors in the country, was one of the doctors consulted on the case.
"I think it was a comfort thing,'' Friedman said. "We were fine with Dr. Carlan, we were fine with Dr. Sheridan, it's just the way it went.''

Friedman said the other option was to splint and try to rehab the finger and "see if it would stabilize, but it's just not that practical. We consulted a number of different doctors and got a lot of different opinions and went through it and to a man it was something that just didn't seem like the prudent thing to do. ... It was deemed that it was pretty unlikely that it would fix it, that it would reoccur, and if it did there was a chance he hurts it worse and it's a much more involved surgery.''

Comments

[David S]

Kaz is not the problem. It's our line up. Other than a few games that got out of hand early our sarting pitching has kept us in every game. Bullpen too. Kaz only gave up 2 runs & all they could bang out was 1 lousy run??? Why is it a few years ago we had the worst pitching staff but one of the best offfenses in the league? If we had that now we would have the best record in baseball like 83-36 because all those 1-2 games we lost would have been won ! Guys who were hitting hot last year are not so hot now. Look what happened to the come back player of the year. People need to stop their BLOOD CLOT CRYIN ! The rays are going to have their 1st winning season ever & make the playoffs. When was the lst time Baltimore or Toronto been there? How about if NY doesn't even make it?

[mrincredible's shrink]

Please excuse my client. He thinks he's the only baseball fan in the world who can explain a balk.

He once argued for 25 minutes about the infield fly rule.

He's off his meds. What he meant to say was, "I am confident the Rays will overcome the obstacle presented before them and wish to purchase playoff tickets."

[mrincredible]

Some of you people live your pointless lives just so you can say, "I told you so, I told you so," like the little kids that you are. The Rays just broke the franchise record for wins, and some of you talk as if nothing has changed from the first 10 years of the franchise. Blithering, drooling, knuckle-dragging idiots! Please, we beg of you, jump off the band-wagon and make room for some real baseball fans! And, if you're selling your playoff tickets, we'll be happy to take them off your hands! You're obviously not going to use them.

[Native]

what is the Rays magic number 40 or 41?

[Ray F]

I agree Bill in the fact that for his 5-6 innings, he is effective. Down the stretch though; you can't have Howell, Wheeler, and Balfour going every day.

[Bill]

I'm not that worried about Kaz. If he can go 5 to 6 innings and only give up 1-3 runs, with our bullpen, that's not really a bad start...........

[Ray F]

re: Dick@1:30,

I'm only concerned with Kaz. Garza has been lights-out since his scuffle with Navi. Jackson is coming around. Sonny eats innings. Shieldsy is the work-horse.

Kaz (in my opinion) is the only one not playing to the expected level.

I expect to see price in a month. Give him 4 AAA starts against seasoned vets and bring him up. Move Sonny to the bullpen, stick Price in the rotation, dump Hammel, and give Scotty a little competition for the "Ace" nickname.

[Ray F]

re: Hungry@ 11:16,

We only have 6 more away games than the Red Sox. The Red Sox are equally as bad on the road as we are. Even if we go 2-4 in those games, you have to assume the Red Sox will do as bad and even if they go .500 on the road, we have a lead in the division now which gives us the cushion for the time being.

I say we run what we brung and just scratch a few wins until Longo gets back. CC is having an off-year anyway. If Ruggiano/Baldelli combine for .280/25rbi/10hr/10sb and hold down LF in CC's absence, all we have to worry about is the 2 1/2 weeks Longo is out.

We have 17 games from now until Sept 1st (when Longo should be back). 9 of those are at home. 8 are against teams in last place or 2nd to last.

Getting a loud mouth, over-priced, middle-aged DH is not worth a dime. The Tigers would ask more than usual for him since they think we "need" him.

If we have to get anybody, bring in Bonds. It'll put some skin in the seats (if for novelty purposes only), he won't cost a single prospect, we aren't obligated to pay a rediculous salary next year, and he would be fine DH'ing. Otherwise find a better waiver-wire surfer than Sheff.

I'm glad he's a Tampa native and I'm sure he would love to live out his baseball days here, but, doesn't fit.

[dick]

Isn't anyone else out there concerned with our starting pitching lately?? Kazmir (our ace), recently has been no better than average and probably well below average, averaging 5 innings at best. Shields keeps us in games, Sonnanstine keeps us in games, Garza is Garza and Jackson is Jackson and you never know what you are going to get with either. The end result of all this downward spiral from Kazmir is the damage to our bullpen. Our starting pitching has caused this bullpen to be overworked and it is a serious concern to me. Hopefully, like it took a rookie (Longoria) to solidify things, it may take another rookie (Price) to take over the final month.

[Big Mikey from Local 140]

hmm .. 109 Row M Seats 7-10 ... not too bright

you might wanna watch your back jabroni

Mark my words, the Rays will not win their division. Will be swept in the playoffs.

[Hungry]

Sheff has 12 HR's and it's very likely Detroit will unload him for a less than stellar return. They don't want to pay his $14M 2009 either.

Run what we brung?

Let's see what we brung.

1. We have one of the American League's worst offenses.

2. We can't touch LHP

3. Percy can barely close out games

4. We have a ton of games on the road to finish off the season.

"Run what we brung" would only bring us an early offseason.

Make a move or move out of the way.

12HR dummy

[Ray F]

So, the Sheff's on waivers, he has to get past the Red Sux and the Stankees first who both could afford him for 14mm next year.

If we were hestitant for Jason Bay @ 9mmm a year, what is the sheff worth???

Plus he's only hitting .220 with 16HR. Not worth prospects in my book.

I say run what we brung and stick it out until Longo gets back. Unless someone more affordable becomes available.

[Hungry]

Bring in the Sheff! I hate Barries.

[Glock .45]

The Rays lost a game... let's all shoot ourselves. AHHHHH!!!

Idiots.

[Bill]

Last nights game was NOT about the lineup, it was all the bad baserunning errors..............that was the problem last night.

[Why blame BJ]

Upton went 1-3 with a walk, and his hit would have scored one or 2 runs if it weren't for boneheaded plays before he got to the plate. Blame Aki for not getting the bunt down, or Bartlett for getting himself picked off....or better yet AYBAR for forgetting how many outs there were!!!! If you're blaming Upton for tonight, you are just looking for reasons to scapegoat.

[zeke]

Well, our makeshift line-up finally caught up to us and we loe to the powerhouse that is Oakland. Offense, against a lefty with terrible stats, did nothing and it is obvious we are gonna miss Longoria. Upton did his normal whiffing, baserunners got picked off in crucial situations and nobody did much at the plate. We lose, Boston and NY win. It's only one game and time may prove different (lets hope so) but ruggiano ain't gonna be the missing piece on offense.

[Andy]

If I'm choosing between 2 guys that use roids, I'm going for the one that is the best hitter of his generation, would play for the minimum, and won't cost any prospects.

Neither are nice guys, and I'd understand the Rays passing on both, but if we're introducing a distraction, we might as well get the best player in the process.

[Jay]

I'd take a hometown guy like Sheff over Bonds any day. He's a bit expensive and only has 12 homers for the season, but he can fill in for CC AND provide some hitting power. He's still got plenty left in the tank, and he'd be an instant fan favorite.

[Warren]

Sheffield was just put on waivers. He's from Tampa. Grab him Rays!

[dick]

When two of your main horses go down, the so called aces must step to the plate. It's good to listen to the radio and know that Kazmir says he has figured out what was wrong. It is the end of the 2nd inning, he gave up a two run homer and has thrown 50 pitches through 2 innings!!!! Think he has gone full count to 6 of 8 hitters so far and struck out four. No doubt he has the talent to be one of the best but whatever is going on has been going on far too long and either Hickey or someone needs to fix it ASAP. If it ain't broke, don't fix it--my friends, this one's broke...

[kyle]

"I think it was a comfort thing". Perhaps you should have made the call Andrew, since the coaching staff was fine and "comfortable" with the Nady/Marte for Niemann/Brignac trade that was a done deal if you said "YES".

[BMJR]

Mighty guess there James Jones, almost had it but no, that is not what that stands for. If you want to keep complaining though I will happily take those seats from you.

[Slappy]

16-14 Texas, T7.

[Slappy]

I'm tellin' ya gator, right now I love me some Rangers baseball!!

[Razzlegator]

Gotta love TX.; @ fenway no less.

[rocky]

If you follow the Rays, you must be a Red Sox fan. How can you bash this management who have worked this team into first place in the East on August 12 with the 2 lowest payroll in the majors. This is a team ahead of schedule and one that will continue to battle for the division lead for the next 5-7 years. The sky is not falling, the Rays are in a strong position to make the post season as long as they continue to pitch well and provide just enough offense. Enjoy the ride folks, it is August and we are still talking baseball in Tampa.

[Slappy]

Is anyone watching what's happening in Baston? The Rangers were down, like 10-0 in the first, are up 15-14 in the 6th. And still mlb.com has on the crawl Ortiz's two first-inning homers. How about Texas' 15-freaking run rally???!!!

[james jones]

Attn:BMJR

Get off B.J 's nuts! Let me guess Bossman Junior? Loser. I do follow the Rays 109 Row M Seats 7-10 since 2001.

Sincerely,
James

[Steve]

James Jones....please DO NOT renew your season tickets! We don't need constant negative 'fans' like you.

[Season Tickets]

Stop wasting your money on me JJ. You clearly have no idea what you are watching.

[BMJR]

James Jones...do you watch this team at all? Or even follow them? The job this front office has done this year has been remarkable. You forget that we weren't even suppose to contend this year.

The loss of CC is terrible but offensively he was having a down year and we have a very good player in Ruggiano replacing him. Though his bat may not be as potent, his speed and defense is above average and thats how we've been winning this year...with speed and defense!

And for the BJ haters out there, get over yourselves. He has done everything this organization has asked of him and converted from short to center seamlessly and without complaint. His power may be down but he already has over 80 walks and 30 plus steals.

Know what you're talking about before you make asinine comments.

[Ari]

You can kiss Carl Crawford goodbye until 2009 Spring Training. We'll need to do it without him, because he won't be back this year. I guess we should bring Johnny Gomes back up and hope for the best. But in the end, I think the season's obituary will cite this date as the day of the terminal diagnosis.

[Chuck Manson]

I'd rather go the splint route, and by default rest the hamstring, then bring him back in mid-September. Surgery can wait until after the post-season. Now it's a roll of the dice if he returns at all! No surgery now! Maybe we should pick up Sheffield.

[james jones]

We weren't willing to part with so called prospects so no Matt Holliday or Jason Bay.Bring in Barry already!!
The conservative ownership of this organization makes me sick.I'm tired of sending in a renewal check for season tickets to a franchise with no balls.Percival is garbage/B.J. has a glove but needs to go.Pull the trigger already make a deal!!!!! 2012 will be the year the Franchise Moves.

[Raul Ibanez]

Pick up Raul IUbanez

[Brian]

Maybe Crawford will be back for the playoffs, with a well rested and healthy hamstring. The rest of the guys just need to get us there.