Bill Bray to undergo Tommy John surgery

[OnBaseMachine]

Per Lance's blog:

Things I'm told

Reds reliever Bill Bray will return to Cincinnati next week for Tommy John surgery.

He's been on the DL since April 6 with an elbow strain. He's currently in Sarasota where he was attempting to rehab the elbow. He appeared in three games for AAA Louisville this year.

http://www.1530homer.com/pages/lancesBlog.html

It's a shame that Bill Bray has never been able to stay healthy. He's got the stuff to be a top notch left handed reliever but injuries have held him back.

[cumberlandreds]

The Reds hit the daily double on that trade. Majewski was hurt when they got him and now Bray.

[RollyInRaleigh]

He's never been right. Hopefully, he comes back from the surgery, stronger, as a lot of guys do, now days.

[OnBaseMachine]

The Reds hit the daily double on that trade. Majewski was hurt when they got him and now Bray.

Yep. I hated the trade when it first went down, then as time went on I tried to convince myself it wasn't as bad as everyone thought. I was wrong. Overall, I thought Wayne Krivsky did a nice job during his Reds tenure, but the trade was clearly his biggest mistake.

[Roy Tucker]

I'm not a doctor nor have I played one on TV nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn last night....

But why the heck did it take the Reds medical staff so long to figure this out? The guy hasn't been right since they got him.

[Johnny Footstool]

Yep. I hated the trade when it first went down, then as time went on I tried to convince myself it wasn't as bad as everyone thought. I was wrong. Overall, I thought Wayne Krivsky did a nice job during his Reds tenure, but the trade was clearly his biggest mistake.

Lopez and Kearns were and are still the best players involved in the trade. Unfortunately, that's not saying much.

However, Lopez appears to have made an adjustment after getting shipped to St. Louis last season, and it's carrying over to this season.

[mbgrayson]

I think it turns out that each GM knew that their own players had serious warts, and overall, neither team really came out ahead.

Reds gave up:
1.Ryan Wagner. He still is languishing in AAA Syrause with a 5.74 ERA this year.
2. Austin Kearns. Austin turns 29 this month, and should be in his peak years. His salary this year is $8 million dollars, and he would have been a free agent if the Reds had kept him. He is batting .229/.373/.446 for an OPS of .818 in 2009. In 2008, he had a .627 OPS over 86 games, and in 2007 he had an OPS of .765 over 161 games.
3. Felipe Lopez. Now with Arizona, Felipe was released by the Nationals in July of 2008. He was making about $5 million last year, and the Reds could have had him back then if they wanted him. His stats: 2007 with Washington: .245/.308/.352 for an OPS of .659. In 2008, with Washington, .234/.305/.314 for an OPS of .619. Since leaving Washington, he is hitting much better.


Reds obtained in return:
1. Royce Clayton. Now out of baseball, he hit .235/.290/.329 for an OPS of .619 after coming to the Reds in 2006. He was a free agent after 2006, and he signed for one last year with Toronto in 2007.
2. Gary Majewski. Released by the Reds, and currently on the Phillies AAA team. All the stats you need to see are his Reds ERA numbers: 2006-8.40 2007-8.22 2008-6.52.
3. Bill Bray. See above. Reds ERA numbers: 2006-4.23. 2007-6.28. 2008-2.87. Bray will turn 26 in June.
4. Brendan Harris. Sent to Tampa Bay in January 2007, the Reds basically got nothing for him. He is playing second for the Twins this season, and is batting .309/.360/.441 for an OPS of .801 over the first 24 games he has played.
5. Daryl Thompson. After a nice recovery including coming all the way up to the Reds last year, Thompson is struggling in Louisville with a 6.33 ERA this season. He has only 7 Ks in 21.2 innings...

Certainly not a lot of direct impact. Remember that part of the indirect effect of trading Kearns was to make room for young outfielders like Jay Bruce, and then a Rule 5 pickup named Hamilton, who was traded for Edinson Volquez. Letting Harris go for nothing was likely a bigger mistake than anything else here.

[lollipopcurve]

60-day DL for Bray is going to open a spot on the 40-man roster, which is desperately needed.

Agree with those saying this could be good for down the road -- Bray needs a rebuild.

[redsmetz]

60-day DL for Bray is going to open a spot on the 40-man roster, which is desperately needed.

Agree with those saying this could be good for down the road -- Bray needs a rebuild.

Bray will turn 26 in early June, so he still has time to come back from the surgery and give the Reds some value. What's the timetable for TJ surgery these days?

[thatcoolguy_22]

Wow! I was really hoping to see him back in the Queen City this year. Hopefully Kremchik stays sober the night before...

[rotnoid]

Bray will turn 26 in early June, so he still has time to come back from the surgery and give the Reds some value. What's the timetable for TJ surgery these days?

Not sure, but it's typically faster for relievers isn't it?

[LoganBuck]

Not sure, but it's typically faster for relievers isn't it?

I would think that he might be ready for spring training. Definitely by next may/june.

[REDREAD]

I'm not a doctor nor have I played one on TV nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn last night....

But why the heck did it take the Reds medical staff so long to figure this out? The guy hasn't been right since they got him.

That's been one of the biggest mysteries to me. It's not just Bray either.
From Jr's hamstrings to Kearns' "blister", the Reds seem very poor at catching injuries early. The attitude seems to "let the guy play until he really hurts himself badly".

[Kc61]

I guess you guys know when Bray got hurt and when his need for surgery arose. And when it was diagnosed. I don't.

[Reds1]

What a trade! Alot of potential that really has amounted to nothing for both sides. I say the Reds won because they ultimately saved money droping Lopez and Kearns. We still have a shot to get something with Ramirez, but really it was a salary swap. The ol addition by subtraction trade!