All those Internet rumors about the Mariners willingness to trade David Aardsma just kidding.
The club said Aardsma will undergo surgery on his left hip Monday. As a result, he is 100 percent less marketable than he was this time a week ago, and now the Mariners have bigger concerns.
The first is whether Aardsma will be ready to be the Seattle closer in 2011. If hes not, the Mariners probably will spend time in spring training getting Brandon League, Aardsmas setup man in 2010, ready to take over.
Neither club nor pitcher believe he wont be ready come opening day. On the other hand, there is a long history in baseball on players who were supposed to be ready for opening day who werent.
The Mariners said Aardsma is scheduled to have surgery to repair a tear in the labrum of his left hip in Vail, CO., on Monday by Dr. Marc Phillipon.
Aardsma was mostly healthy in 2010, but the club said he has been bothered by the hip in the almost three months since the season ended. The teams medical director, Dr. Edward Khalfayan, met with Aardsma, trainer Rick Griffin and Phillipon.
The plan is for Aardsma to be able to resume throwing in about four weeks, meaning he will be behind the other pitches when spring training starts mid-February, but he should be ready to go come opening day.
Aardsma, who came to Seattle from Boston two years ago, has 69 saves in his career, all of them since the start of the 2009 season. He had 31 saves in 36 tries in 2010, including a stretch of 15 saves in 16 tries after July 10.
John Hickey is also Senior MLB Writer for AOL FanHouse (www.fanhouse.com)
Twitter: @JHickey3
