Orioles Lose Kris Benson to Rotator Cuff injury; Sign Trachsel to Replace
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Yahoo Sports reported yesterday that Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kris Benson suffered a partially torn rotator cuff as he began to accelerate his offseason workouts.
AP Sports Writer David Ginsberg reports for Yahoo;
Benson has a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and will probably miss the entire 2007 season.
Benson had an MRI exam last week that revealed a partial tear in his rotator cuff, the pitcher’s agent, Gregg Clifton, said Monday. The injury will require surgery, but the procedure has not yet been scheduled.
“We’d like to get it done as soon as possible so we can start the recovery process,” Clifton said.
After coming to Baltimore in a January 2006 trade with the Mets, Benson went 11-12 with a 4.82 ERA in 30 starts.
[Orioles Exec. VP] Flanagan did not concede losing Benson for the season, saying only that he expects the right-hander to be sidelined “at least a couple of months. We won’t have him on opening day, that’s for sure.”
Rotator cuff tears usually require between eight to 12 months of rehabilitation for pitchers. But Clifton did not rule out the possibility of Benson pitching in 2007.
“No one can accurately predict the duration of recovery. I’m not a doctor,” he said. “It’s not what I think or what Kris thinks. It’s what the doctors think.”
Benson was beginning to increase his offseason workouts when his shoulder became “stiff and sore,” according to Flanagan.
“Being around as long as I have, I know this isn’t the first time something like this has happened,” said Flanagan, a former pitcher.
The 32-year-old Benson missed the 2001 season after elbow-ligament transplant surgery and made only 18 starts in 2003 because of tendinitis in his right shoulder.
Shortly after Benson’s plight was announced, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal added this additional comment;
The Orioles, coming off nine straight losing seasons, expected Benson to solidify a rotation that includes left-hander Erik Bedard, righty Jaret Wright and two promising youngsters, righty Daniel Cabrera and lefty Adam Loewen.
The Orioles, in the meantime wasted little time in finding an alternative. Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reported later in the day;
The Orioles have moved fast to fill the hole in the rotation, agreeing in principle to a deal with free agent pitcher Steve Trachsel, according to a baseball source.
The deal, which will pay the 36-year-old right-hander between $3 and $3.5 million, is pending a physical, which could happen as early as today, the source said. Trachsel has a 134-143 career record and a 4.28 ERA in 13 big league seasons.
Trachsel was 15-8 with a 4.97 ERA for the New York Mets last season but saw his stock in free agency drop significantly because of two poor outings in the playoffs. He gave up six hits and two earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in the Mets’ Game Three win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series and then surrendered five hits, five walks and five earned runs in one inning in New York’s Game Three loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.
If the deal becomes official, Trachsel will compete with prospects Hayden Penn and Garrett Olson for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
Presumably, the language “if the deal becomes official” must mean the deal is pending Trachsel’s passing the standard team physical.
Rosenthal reports this in a subsequent article for Fox Sports;
Rather than turn to right-hander Hayden Penn, another young pitcher, the Orioles pursued Trachsel, who is familiar to Orioles vice-president Jim Duquette from their days together in the Mets’ organization.
So, the Mets have lost another starter, this time to free agency.
New York Post’s Kevin Kernan writes;
Pitching coach Rick Peterson offers some comforting words.
Peterson believes the bullpen has been strengthened with the addition of workhorse lefty Scott Schoeneweis and points to the continued development of lefty Jose Feliciano, who was 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA after the All-Star break. Dropping Feliciano’s arm angle has worked wonders. Schoeneweis was 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA with the Reds. All that is key be cause the NL East is a division dominated by lefty hitting, with the likes of Ryan Howard.
But with the loss of Trachsel to free agency, with Pedro Martinez lost until at least All Star break, with John Maine and Orlando Hernandez iffy at best, the only solid starter the mets have at this point is 41 year old lefty Tom Glavine. Peterson’s “comforting words” may only be that — words.
The Orioles may have resolved their Benson gap, but the Mets have a huge one of their own. The point is, when facing power like Utley, Howard and other potent hitting in the NL East and throughout the NL, the Mets may well get behind early and often, before the game even gets to their bullpen.
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March 8th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
[…] In the meantime, Baltimore Orioles’ starting pitcher Kris Benson, about whom it was earlier reported that he suffered a partially torn rotator cuff during off-season workouts, has experienced more setbacks which seem to make it apparent that he may need surgery on his torn rotator cuff. […]
March 16th, 2007 at 10:31 am
[…] It appears as if all efforts to rehab Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kris Benson’s ailing right shoulder without surgery have failed and that Benson will have to have surgery which will shelve him for the 2007 season. […]