Plagued By Injures, Again

Recently closer Brian Wilson has made the headlines, again.  Bit this time it has nothing to do with his beard or his outlandish behavior -- both of which is is well know for.  This time, it is for a serious year ending injury.  Wilson will soon undergo his second "Tommy John" elbow surgery.  This is a surgery that can take up to thirteen months to recover from, and being that this is the closers second go, it might take even longer.

Although Brian Wilson was said to have shown up to Spring Training in great shape, he is still susceptible to injury just like any player out there.  Unfortunately, injuries have been an on going problem for the San Francisco Giants.  Injures were the nail in their coffin last year, and they are creeping into the year as well.  Wilson is major force in the Giants bullpen.  He is an intimidating presence, and he has the talent to back it up.  There is no doubt that the Giants will feel the impact of this lose.

But, as they do in baseball, the politics are slowing coming into view.  The 2013 season will be the last for Wilson before he is up for arbitration.  This presents a big decision for the Giants management, there are a few options they can take.  First, they could try and offer him a 20% pay cut, which is the max allowed, bring his salary down to $6.4 million.  Keep in mind that Wilson will still be recovering at the beginning of the 2013 season and he will most likely be limited in the number of innings and pitches he will be able to throw.  Or, they could set Wilson out as a free agent, and then try and bring him back in at a much lower salary.  This is a risky choice, being that they might lose Wilson completely, but that is a risk I think they could live with.

Let's say they send Wilson out into the land of the free agents, and he gets picked up by someone else for a nice long term high money contract.  The Giants still have the option of bringing back Santiago Casilla and Jeremy Affeldt for around the same price that they would pay for Wilson.  Let's not forget that we still have plenty of depth in our bull pen.

But letting a player go in this fashion does not show any loyalty on the Giants part.  It is funny how this can work both ways, how a game can come down to politics.  And, it will not be a pleaser for us fans.  Giants fans and non-fans alike enjoy watching Wilson take the mound to do what he does best; strike people out!  We always want to see our favorite players stay with our team, but this is not always the case.  So only time will tell with what will happen to Brian Wilson over the coarse of the next year.  I for one just hope that he is able to come back from this surgery and still throw well.  And weather he is doing it n a Giants jersey or not, I'm sure we will all still be fearing the beard.