The latest from the wonderful world of the keystone beat writers...sans any of the ridiculous talk of bringing back Ken Macha (I'll wait until Sunday for that).

Susan Slusser is reporting that Eric Chavez is looking at possibly facing shoulder surgery.

This is another in a long line of terrible writing by a sportswriter. Nowhere in the article do you learn what is the precise problem with the shoulder. Just that Chavez might have an MRI and might be facing surgery. Well, I might be hungry and I might be eating lunch.
To his credit, Joe Roderick actually has a decent article while talking about the shoulder issue.

For A's fans, the fact to keep in mind is that surgery and a procedure are very different.

Now, having looked at as many reports as I have on Chavez' shoulder in the past I speculated months ago that Chavez is likely suffering from not any structural damage, but a growth on the end of the clavicle. It's just a small hook like protrusion that interferes with all the stuff in the shoulder; the A/C joint, the rotator cuff, the arm pit...the problem is that any problems with a shoulder and the first leap is to rule out rotator cuff problems. Tears and the like are ruled out. The A/C joint gets worked a little and there's not problem there. The athlete can barely get their arm above their ear - but nobody knows what the problem is.

I've had a Modified Mumford procedure and it was like my arm was 10 years younger after a few months of rehab. For years prior to that there was a lot of therapy; throwing class, drills, electro stem, ultrasound, ice, cortisone injections, exercises, hand and forearm exercises and lots of balms, ointments and throwing. The process just to get ready for a 2 hour football practice was often 90 minutes of preparation.

I'm betting that Chavez will have an MRI, which is really unnecessary, but is will help rule out any possible micro-tears in the rotator cuff or any structural damage that has occurred. Really, just angling the shoulder 30 degrees in an x-ray will show an orthopaedic doc what he needs to know. I complained about my arm from high school into my third college year. Tired arm, sore, overuse and just comes with the jobs were usually the excuses. Until a physician actually took the time to get some good looks at the shoulder from a new perspective. Just 30 degrees made all the difference.

More on the Mumford here and I'll see if I can convert the video of my procedure and get it up online over the weekend.

Anyway.

UPDATE 10:30 AM PST

"Eric Chavez is headed for surgery in the near future to correct a long-standing shoulder problem. The available symptoms--pain, soreness, lack of throwing power and control--all point to some type of shoulder impingement. The correction for that is likely to be some type of modified Mumford surgery that would open up the space in the shoulder to reduce the impingement. This type of injury isn’t normally seen in position players, though a few pitchers have survived it. It’s not a terribly serious surgery so my guess is that, if this is what Chavez is having, he’ll be back by spring training with a slight downgrade to his throwing arm from third. He’s still a 1."
- Will Carroll, Under the Knife (Baseball Prosectus)

My guess is that Chavez will be reporting earlier than usual to spring training and will actually be able to lift weights for the first time in years. Will this make the difference, will a simple hour long procedure in an outpatient capacity turn Eric Chavez, poor starter, into an All Star?

One could only hope. Chavez has the sword of Damocles hanging over his head in the form of the tag 'most overrated player in baseball'. He does deserve it. The BayArea media have been slow to actually attack Chavez for fear of offending Billy Beane. But it is warranted and long overdue.

Here's another great bit of reporting from the San Jose Mercury News. Apparently, Rich Harden would have started on Monday if it were not for "except for his strained abdominal muscle". Wow. Talk about not knowing the ass from the elbow. The Lat is as near the abdomen as the chest or groin.