Travis Hafner to have shoulder surgery

[southsider2k5]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3643917

 

CLEVELAND -- Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday, and is expected to be ready for the start of next season.

Travis Hafner

 

Hafner

 

Renowned orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews performed the 45-minute operation on Hafner at St. Vincent Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., the club said.

 

Andrews cleaned out Hafner's shoulder joint, the Indians said in a statement. He missed more than three months this season after losing most of the strength in his shoulder. The team did not indicate that Andrews found any abnormalities in Hafner's shoulder.

 

He will begin physical therapy Thursday at Progressive Field.

 

The slugger was on the disabled list from May 30 until Sept. 9. The Indians, who finished third in the AL Central, had hoped rest and rehab would return the lost strength to Hafner's shoulder. But when he returned to the lineup, his swing was not what it once was, and during a year-end examination Indians doctors found Hafner's shoulder had weakened.

 

The Indians and Hafner delayed surgery until they were certain it was necessary. Andrews, too, initially felt the shoulder would recover with rehab.

 

The 31-year-old Hafner batted .195 with five homers and 24 RBIs this season. In the previous two seasons combined, he hit 66 homers and drove in 217 runs.

 

In July 2007, the Indians signed Hafner to a six-year, $65 million contract through 2012 with a club option for 2013. The club still owes Hafner more than $51 million.

 

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

[ThunderBolt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3643917

Excellent! A healthy Hafner will be more then enough to lead the Indians Double-AA Affiliate to another championship!

[RockRaines]

Is that code for "Hafner is trying to find another new formula of undetectable Steroids so he cant get his production back up to where it was when he was juicing"

[whitesoxfan101]

Is that code for "Hafner is trying to find another new formula of undetectable Steroids so he cant get his production back up to where it was when he was juicing"

 

Exactly. He's of no concern to the White Sox or AL Central unless he finds some crazy ass stuff that the tests don't detect. I can't think of a more obvious juicer in the sport when you consider the dropoff he's had since the testing was beefed up.

[ptatc]

Exactly. He's of no concern to the White Sox or AL Central unless he finds some crazy ass stuff that the tests don't detect. I can't think of a more obvious juicer in the sport when you consider the dropoff he's had since the testing was beefed up.

 

There still isn't a reliable test for HGH.

 

TCQ had a shoulder problem and looked what happened to his numbers after surgery. It will be interesting to see what Hafner's numbers are next year.

 

[southsider2k5]

I also would like to highlight that contract that Hafner signed. Wow. There is the danger of signing a pretty young player to a long term deal. Especially if you have a guy with an injury history like TCQ, you really have to be careful.

[Kyyle23]

There still isn't a reliable test for HGH.

 

TCQ had a shoulder problem and looked what happened to his numbers after surgery. It will be interesting to see what Hafner's numbers are next year.

 

The feds seem to be doing a better job of stopping the transportation though. Im sure there are plenty of back alleys to find the stuff, but it seems like there have been more pharmacy and delivery busts in the last couple of years.

[santo=dorf]

I also would like to highlight that contract that Hafner signed. Wow. There is the danger of signing a pretty young player to a long term deal. Especially if you have a guy with an injury history like TCQ, you really have to be careful.

That's not the case with Hafner. He's a year younger than Konerko.