Alex Rodriguez‘s struggles at the end of last season were well-documented, but it’s the slugger’s medical history that scribes will be spilling ink over this offseason.
Rodriguez needs surgery on his left hip “to repair a torn labrum, bone impingement and the correction of a cyst,” the team announced Monday.
The surgery is expected to sideline Rodriguez for four to six months, meaning he will miss part of the 2013 season. He also needs to rehabilitate the hip for four to six weeks before he can have surgery.
The hip problem had A-Rod playing injured for parts of last year, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.
Rodriguez, 37, underwent hip surgery in 2009 on his other hip. The previous surgery also repaired a torn labrum and addressed cartilage from a cyst.
Sherman notes that the Yankees hope A-Rod can still be a successful player again, and that this is not a retirement for the slugger.
The fact that Rodriguez was hurt down the stretch has to be some small consolation for the Yankees, after seeing their $275-million man bat just .120 in the playoffs before being benched in favor or Eric Chavez for much of the ALCS. However, the injury also puts pressure on Brian Cashman and the Yankees front office to find a replacement at the hot corner, in addition to some insurance in case Derek Jeter does not fully recover from his ankle injury suffered last year.
