They Shoot Horses Don't They?
Apparently Alfonso Soriano's cranky left knee was bothering him enough during his outfield play this past Friday that his plans to get an elective MRI (magnetic resonance image) in a few weeks got moved up to Saturday morning since he wasn't going to start today. In this video interview he says it's been sore for four months but with (approximately) 40 games left why can't he keep playing with the same pain? The pain seems to bother him more when he runs (rather than when he hits) so it's affecting his limited outfield abilities and I expect it's been a factor regarding his on and mostly off offense this season too.
Soriano was in no hurry to get the MRI as recently as this week. He originally expected to take the time to get it on their next day off, Sept 10th (after returning from the trip to NY and Pitt), but his limp became more noticeable after his game winning 3 run HR on Friday so they moved it up to Monday and when it was clear he couldn't start today they sent him for the test this morning.
Carrie Muskat from cubs.com reports that the MRI results just showed inflammation and the outfielder will likely get a cortisone shot (based on the manager's postgame comments) and be sidelined a few days. From the horses mouth, in the postgame interview, Lou Piniella said the team orthopedic specialist (probably Dr. Gryzlo) will look at Soriano on Sunday, and he most likely will get a cortisone shot to alleviate the pain.
I've heard some recent mention that Soriano's knee symptoms started after bumping into the outfield wall in April and (props to Navigator for the link) here is the mlb page from the April 22nd, 3-0 loss to the Reds, that shows some of the possibilities. The most likely is a Joey Votto HR where Soriano doesn't actually hit the wall with his left knee but he does come up limping on the warning track. The other video, which is a Jay Bruce double off the wall has Soriano hit the wall with his knee. Unfortunately, I've watched it repeatedly and it's his right knee that whacks into the wall so maybe he just twisted the left knee on that one. I'll chalk it up as something happened during that Reds series at Wrigley, and give it an April 22nd date mark.
There are mentions in the press (and TCR) about his sore knee at the end of May/early June but those mentions didn't include a specific injury and were more prompted because Soriano stopped hitting in May. From Tribune writer, Paul Sullivan's Hardball blog on June 2nd:
Soriano has not homered since May 17th. He hit .216 in May with five home runs and 11 RBIs, striking out 32 times in 111 at-bats. Since Aramis Ramirez went down, he's regressed at the plate instead of stepping up.
Will the knee soreness force manager Lou Piniella to sit him?
"He might have a little discomfort with it, but I've talked to the trainer about it, and I've talked to Soriano about it, and it's nothing that precludes him from playing," Piniella said. "I mean, if he was hitting the ball real well, I don't think we'd be having this conversation."
I'm not sure if Soriano had a previous MRI in May/June when we first
heard about the sore knee but it does seem odd that it's taken this
long to get such a basic test done, if this is his first MRI for a problem lasting months.
Inflammation in the knee (as seen on an MRI) can be localized to a specific part of the knee (i.e. patellar tendon) or it can be generalized as in increased joint fluid (an effusion). By telling us the MRI shows "inflammation", we're getting (again) a very limited and non-specific amount of information. Still, if Soriano had a meniscus or ACL tear (aka something significant aka "structural") they probably would not have omitted mentioning those as specific findings.
If there was a direct impact to his knee in April, the problem may be something called chondromalacia. This translates as soft, blistered or frayed articular cartilage (arthroscopic image). If he banged his knee against the outfield wall, it probably is by the kneecap (patella) or the femoral condyle (trochlea) opposite the patella. Unless the damage is extensive it's often difficult to see mild chondromalacia on MRI imaging but it is a reasonable speculation as to the source of inflammation if the MRI isn't showing any structural damage, especially with symptoms persisting over 4 months.
At 33 years of age and with several more years on an $18M contract, I'd expect it will be recommended to have the knee looked at arthroscopically in the off-season, even if it's just to make sure they know more precisely what is causing the knee soreness this year. A cortisone shot might get him through the season but repetitively it can adversely affect the joint so it's not like they would be willing to do that time after time without a more precise diagnosis.
We all know the cliche that the season is a marathon. I know director Sydney Pollack should have ordered the MRI before shooting any of the contestants (with cortisone) in his 1969 film:
This is a sad tale of desperate people in desperate times trying to make a few extra bucks during the Great Depression years. Dancing in pairs, they literally risked their health by trying to stay on their feet by dancing longer than every other couple.
Actually, MRI's were just a twinkle in some physicists eye back in 1969. Studies on MRI's done on humans weren't published until 1977. They didn't become accessible to most patients until the early 1980's.
OK, this was a goofy analogy but Soriano's desire to stay in the lineup at any cost seems to fit. Wasn't Soriano dancing with some Braves fan (Jane Fonda) in that movie? At least back then he could run and hop. Ah, that seems so long ago. Sori, please get your knee well for next season's marathon. When your bat is missing, it's tough on every one of us Cubs fans and I don't want the patented Soriano "hop" morphing into the Soriano wheelie in a wheelchair.
Recent comments
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crunch 19 hours 50 min ago (view)
kolten wong rumors heating up for the cubs, too. i could live with that. giving nico hoerner 600 ab's a year sounds absolutely terrible after what little he did last year.
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Cubster 22 hours 6 min ago (view)
WSCR online reporting that the Cubs are going to watch lefty Carlos Rondon pitch. They desperately need another lefty that breaks down with the regularity of my Comcast service.
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crunch 22 hours 20 min ago (view)
imagine being so toxic that you go from a no-doubt 1st or 2nd year HOF'r to having to try for it in your 10th year...and then imagine doubling down on the toxicity every chance you get a chance to redeem yourself.
every time he's called out, even for minor stuff, he piles on more and then complains that people that have an issue with him are "cancelling" him for no good reason.
he deleted a slew of "those people that stormed the capital are great people" posts pre-election so he has some kind of self-awareness in that skull of his somewhere.
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Cubster 22 hours 55 min ago (view)
I'm all for removing him from the ballot. His bloody sock already made it. That was enuf.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 1 day 26 min ago (view)
Ranting about how the elections (both his and the other clown's) were stolen.
I hope he ends up one vote short next year, just to really rub it in.
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crunch 1 day 1 hour ago (view)
currently he's throwing a tantrum and demanding to be removed from the HOF ballot for 2022.
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Hagsag 1 day 3 hours ago (view)
Will Schilling storm the HOF with a mob?
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crunch 1 day 15 hours ago (view)
schilling denied (71.1%, 16 votes short).
some people did nazi that coming.
no one inducted this year...aram got 1% of the vote so he found more than 1 vote out there (4 votes). latroy hawkins got 2 votes for being a solid dude to other people (very friendly with the press and pretty much everyone)...sosa got 17% of the vote...
schilling/bonds/clemens are going in their last eligible class in 2022...could be a hell of a "controversial" class...but bonds/clemens need to find 50+ votes.
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Sonicwind75 1 day 20 hours ago (view)
Arizona is allowing fans in the stands for indoor NHL hockey games but it's too dangerous to let players following protocals; at least more so than hockey fans, to practice outside in a controlled environment. Wonder how much of that is coming from MLB ownership trying to get a late start and pro-rating player salaries. Stall and save some money until more fans are allowed to attend later in the year.
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crunch 1 day 21 hours ago (view)
few hours away from HOF announcements (6pm EST, unless leaked early).
schilling seems to be the only guy with a legit shot this year and i wouldn't be surprised to see no one get elected...
big up aramis rarmirez getting at least 1 known vote on publically shared ballots.
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crunch 2 days 18 hours ago (view)
"MLB will hold its first-ever pre-draft combine from June 20-28 in Cary, North Carolina.
The combine will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, with top draft-eligible college and high school players invited. As part of the combine, the top-88 prep players will take part in a tournament through June 26th consisting of eight games."
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crunch 2 days 19 hours ago (view)
cactus league officials are requesting MLB delay spring training because of elevated COVID cases + deaths.
their summer peak was 70-80 deaths a week and they're currently at 140-160 deaths a week.
things should be trending down now that most of people that wanted to kill relatives in order to have turkey dinners in NOV/DEC seems to have peaked.
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Hagsag 3 days 16 hours ago (view)
$$$$ for trump's defense fund.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days 16 hours ago (view)
But they got $600 a few months back. Each! That was an unexpected windfall.
Can't wait to see us acquire a 17 year old, 16 year old, 11 year old (all in the 15-30 range of Blue Jays prospects) and one of the shitty Jays surplus OFs. Randal Grichuk jerseys will be the new hot item among Cubs fans.
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crunch 3 days 17 hours ago (view)
things are a little tight, we have to be patient with the ricketts family finances.
when TD Ameritrade was fully/completely sold in october they expected to get 26 billion dollars of value on the transaction, but it only got 22 billion dollars. the massive slew of millions that didn't fully come to realization on the ricketts side of that sale stings.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days 17 hours ago (view)
Trade Hendricks? Cant be true. We're "going to be competitive this year."
Sell the team, Ricketts family.
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EXCLUSIVE to the Cub Reporter unless someone else beat me to it
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So if the Cubs do call up a 3rd catcher for September (and they may just consider Jake Fox to be the 3rd catcher and leave it at that), it will be either Steve Clevenger or Mark Johnson (the other Iowa catchers, except Johnson has been on the DL for several months with a neck injury), or either Welington Castillo, Robinson Chirinos, or Blake Lalli (the three catchers at Tennessee).
And as Navigator mentioned in an ealier comment, the Cubs have acquired veteran RHP Ezequiel Astacio (ex-Astros) from an Indy club and he will be assigned to Iowa, presumably as a replacement for one of the pitchers likely to get recalled by the Cubs on 9/1 (Jeff Samardzija, Esmailin Caridad, Jeff Stevens, and/or Justin Berg).
Also, I would expect the Cubs to recall Neal Cotts (July 2009 TJS) tomorrow and immediately place him on their MLB 15-day DL (he is presently on the Iowa Cubs DL), giving the Cubs at least two 8/31 roster exemptions for the post-season (should they somehow get there). Chad Fox is the other one, and David Patton would be a potential 3rd post-season roster exemptiion, as long as the Cubs leave him on the 15-day DL (he is presently on a minor league rehab assignment at Iowa).
Re: They Shoot Horses Don't They?
It would be foolish for the Cubs to trade Harden unless they get legitimate talent in return. Without trading him they can (almost assuredly will) offer Harden arbitration to assure that either Harden pitches for the Cubs next near or the Cubs get two high draft picks.
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BIG LO: It all depends on whether the Cubs and/or the Twins plan on offering salary arbitration to Rich Harden on 12/1. That makes all the difference in the world as far as whether the Cubs should trade him or keep him, and likewise influences whether the Twins should give up two of their top prospects to get him.
The fact that the Cubs placed Harden on Trade Waivers tells me they are leaning toward not offering him arbitration on 12/1 (just like with Kerry Wood last year).There would be no point in trading Harden now (prior to the 8/31 post-season roster eligibility deadline) unless they think they probably won't offer him arbitration, and with the 2010 payroll projected right now at $135M even if all the Cubs potential free-agents leave (and who knows what Ricketts will do regarding the 2010 payroll), I think that it's fairly likely (as of now) that the Cubs do not plan to re-sign Harden or offer him salary arbitration.
That doesn't mean the Cubs would necessarily trade him, though, because Hendry may think the Cubs are just close enough to the Wild Card leaders where they can still pull it out, as long as Harden, Heilman, Gregg, Grabow, et al remain with the team through to the end of the season, even if none of them are offered 2010 contracts or salary arbitration.
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I would be shocked if the Cubs didn't offer Harden arbitration.
And it would be idiotic.
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BIG LO: Unless Hendry doesn't know what his 2010 payroll budget will be.
If Ricketts is OK with increasing the payroll to $145M in 2010, then the Cubs can safely offer Harden arbitration post-2009 and not worry about it. (If it were to go to arbitration, I would figure Harden gets about a $10M salary in 2010).
But what if Ricketts wants the payroll held at $140M, or maybe even wants a "modest" 5% cut to around $132M? If it goes down, then offering arbitration to Harden probably can't happen.
It possibly could happen if the payroll budget holds at $140M, because the Cubs could save about $4M by not re-signing Gregg, Grabow, and R. Johnson, and by non-tendering Heilman, Cotts, Fontenot, and Baker on 12/12, getting the payroll down to around $131M. (They could save around another $5M by non-tendering Theriot, Marmol, Gorzelanny, Marshall, Guzman, and K. Hill, but I think those six are probably safe).
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Heilman & Harden Staying Put
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Though it's now obvious
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