Okay, this looks bad.
The Cleveland Indians announced via twitter this morning that Michael Brantley underwent another surgical procedure. They did not accidentally retweet a previous announcement about Brantley having surgery. It is a new one. It is about his ankle.
Michael Brantley underwent surgery yesterday to stabilize ligaments in his right ankle.
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) October 19, 2017
He'll resume full baseball activity in 4-5 months. pic.twitter.com/h9xvJOpe98
If you’re keeping count (“Why would you do that to yourself?” the writer shouts into a mirror) that’s the third surgery for the former MVP candidate since the end of the 2015 season. First, his shoulder; then, his biceps; now, his ankle. It’s worth noting that all of these injuries involve somewhat trickier muscles or tendons. Soft tissues, as they say. A surgery to “stabilize ligaments” is not as clear cut as a undergoing surgery to fix a broken bone. That’s what smart people on the internet have told me, anyway.
This surgery comes at a particularly unfortunate time for Brantley, as the Indians hold a team option worth $12,000,000 next year. In 2016 and 2017 combined, Brantley played only 101 games. This injury further jeopardizes his health for the beginning of 2018.
If healthy, the left fielder is an All-Star. He slashed .299/.357/.444 when able to pick up a bat in 2017, and bolsters an already impressive middle-of-the-order. The question is how many healthy games he has left in his career, and what they will be worth. Brantley also turns 31 next season, which is the point at which players begin to sleigh down the snowy aging curve.
The Front Office needs to decide whether $12m is the right price for the risk and reward Brantley represents. However, in an offseason where many difficult decisions must be made, it’s hard to imagine that one of them didn’t just become a lot easier.