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Daisuke Matsuzaka has elected to have Tommy John surgery and will likely
inform the Red Sox of his decision Friday morning, according to Gordon Edes
of ESPNBoston.com. Earlier tonight, Yahoo's Tim Brown reported that Dr. Lewis
Yocum found a significant tear in the right-hander's elbow and that Matsuzaka
was leaning toward ligament replacement surgery (Twitter link). Nikkan Sports
first reported that Matsuzaka would undergo Tommy John surgery.
The 30-year-old struggled through eight appearances this year before going on
the disabled list. He has a 5.30 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 through 37 1/3
innings in 2011. On May 18th, the Red Sox announced that Matsuzaka had
experienced elbow tightness in his previous start and could have a sprained
ulnar collateral ligament, and strain to his common flexor mass.
It cost the Red Sox $103MM to acquire Matsuzaka before the 2007 season. He's
under contract for 2011 and 2012 and will earn a $10MM salary each year
before hitting free agency. Recovery from Tommy John surgery typically takes
a year or more, which could mean Matsuzaka returns with three or four months
remaining on his original six-year contract.