Brackman – Potential “Tommy John” Surgery (12:20 Update – Good News?)

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Scroll down to the Yankees section here:

RHP Andrew Brackman, the first-round draft pick who agreed to a contract Wednesday night, was optioned to the Gulf Coast League Yankees. He saw Dr. James Andrews in Alabama on Wednesday and is expected to have “Tommy John” surgery. General manager Brian Cashman said that had not been determined yet.

Tough break for Brack, if it happens. Visits to Dr. Andrews tend not to have a short-term happy ending. Command was a problem without surgery, and that’s usually the last thing to come back following TJ. Still, he’s young, and has plenty of time to work things out and have a successful MLB career. SFN wishes him all the best.

12:20 Update: The New York Times is reporting that the damage might not be as significant as first feared:

Brackman, a 6-foot-10 right-hander from North Carolina State who was drafted in the first round with the 30th overall pick in June, remains confident despite his visit to Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday.

Andrews is the surgeon many pitchers see to schedule reconstructive elbow surgery. But Brackman said he did not need the surgery — not yet, at least — and that his arm checked out better than expected.

“Andrews said he couldn’t tell if I needed surgery, because I don’t have any pain right now,” Brackman said. “And I don’t have any pain because I haven’t thrown a ball in a while. The M.R.I. showed it wasn’t as bad as some cases are.”

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

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35 Responses to Brackman – Potential “Tommy John” Surgery (12:20 Update – Good News?)

  1. RAWFS 08/17/2007 at 1:05 PM #

    As a lifelong Braves fan tracing back to my Mom’s family’s Georgia roots, Andrew Brackman will have my full support when he takes the mound as a Yankees starter. Against the Bravos, I will hope for seven strong from him with the Braves pulling out the win and a no-decision for Brack late in the game. But against all others…. 😉

  2. redfred2 08/17/2007 at 1:12 PM #

    Yep, it’s a damn good thing Brackman didn’t play basketball, he could have gotten…um…what do they call it…oh yeah, injured, that’s right.

  3. BJD95 08/17/2007 at 1:14 PM #

    ^ He still got $4.5M guaranteed from the Yankees (discounted to present value, around $3.7M, per NYT). Brack still made the right decision, IMHO. Who knows, maybe the physical issues he had his sophomore year (going between “basketball shape” and “baseball shape”) contributed. We’ll never know for sure.

  4. noah 08/17/2007 at 2:22 PM #

    He made more money on one day than he was ever going to make in basketball.

    The surgery isn’t a big deal. Most pitchers come back much stronger than before.

  5. tooyoungtoremember 08/17/2007 at 3:02 PM #

    You can’t call a surgery that takes at least a full season to come back from “not a big deal.” It may not be as big of a deal while his career is still in its very early stages, but it’s still a long and painful road to recovery. Good luck B-rack!

  6. McPete 08/17/2007 at 5:19 PM #

    I thought his issue last year was a ‘dead arm’ or some type of shoulder muscle soreness. was it his elbow all along?

  7. noah 08/17/2007 at 5:21 PM #

    No, a big deal, when we’re talking about surgery is what the State TE recruit from Charlotte is going through.

    He dislocated his kneecap. That almost always means you end up tearing two or three ligaments and tendons, the cartilage and the meniscus. He ended up having to have repairs done to the blood vessels as well. That sounds comparable to the injury and surgery KJ Stone had that pretty much ended his career.

    THAT is major surgery.

    TJ surgery is nothing these days.

  8. redfred2 08/17/2007 at 5:23 PM #

    So, what if Brackman had continued to play basketball, say just for the shear fun of it, or even to help his teammates through a tough period. Would it still be considered OK for him to be drafted 30th, versus say a lofty top five as was the earlier thinking? Or, would a lot of people be spouting off and saying that he lost his top 5 status due to playing basketball?

    Although no one will admit it, I’m certain that a 30th ranking in the MLB draft, injury or not, would not be considered good enough if Andrew had continued to play both sports, and some people would blame it all on basketball.

  9. gopack968 08/17/2007 at 6:10 PM #

    I find it hard to imagine that major reconstructive surgery at the begining of a career can be described as, “nothing.”

    The fact that the Yankees signed him to a full contract with big money may speak more to the future of B-rack’s arm than any media speculation.

  10. redfred2 08/18/2007 at 1:20 PM #

    There is a good comparison of the three recent high professional draft choices coming out of NC State, Williams, Simmons, and now Brackman. All are somewhat risky and based mainly on potential.

  11. highstick 08/18/2007 at 4:32 PM #

    Wish I could feel better about Brackman and Dr. Andrews, but my oldest sis worked at Heathsouth in Birmingham and probably knows more than she should about Andrews and Scrushy, but they are both “well I just won’t even say it”. Andrews may be a great doc, but…………..there’s a lot of other things. Hope Brack does ok, I still think he made the right move with baseball. I had some hesitancy in Tim Stoddard doing the same, but I’m sure his baseball career ended up being more than a basketball career would have been!

    Noah, you’re right on the ligaments on Mario. He’s gone for the year! Hope he can overcome this too!

  12. redfred2 08/18/2007 at 5:25 PM #

    highstick

    I don’t know where this attitude comes from that a player cannot play both sports in college, irregardless of where his fortunes are on the professional level. I would argue that Brackman hampered his own cause by not continuing to play BB. AND, he ended up injured afterall, which was the big concern to begin with.

    I have nothing against Brackman and hope he does well, but no one has convinced me that he improved his status at all by forfeiting basketball.

  13. highstick 08/18/2007 at 6:12 PM #

    Oh, that’s not what I meant at all, Fred. I’m just saying that his “better future” was in baseball. And probably the “bigger dollars”. I don’t fault him at all for deciding not to play last year. In fact, maybe it was for the best considering how much Coster and Brackman developed this past year. It’s definitely different now that it was a few years ago. It’s much more of a personal decision that the individual has to make and I certainly am not going to second guess him. I wish him the best no matter what, but it’s his decision, not ours.

    My feeling is he made a choice that a lot of players have to make and he, alone, is the only one who can make that call. I’m behind him all the way and hope that the surgery turns out ok and he has a long long stint with the Yankees. I’ve been a Yankee fan since the 50’s and nothing would thrill me more than to see him in a regular rotation with the Bronx Bombers!

    Hey, did anyone notice this week that a Major League Baseball record was set without the slightest hint of steroids??? Bobby Cox set a record and I defy anyone to say it was because of steroids!

  14. redfred2 08/18/2007 at 9:49 PM #

    highstick, all I’m saying is that many people were saying that his decision not to play BB was the ONLY smart choice, simply because of the potential for injury. His decision to come to NC State in the first place, was a personal one. For that matter, whether he brushes his teeth before he goes to bed tonight is a personal decision. I’m saying just that considering the way it has all played out, I still do not consider it be such a wise, or the ONLY, decision he could have made, and I don’t think anyone can argue that he is better off now because of it.

  15. highstick 08/18/2007 at 10:40 PM #

    No, I don’t think he’s better off for it necessarily either. All I’m saying is it’s his choice, right or wrong, good or bad, and with hindsight we can all second guess him. I just hope he comes out ok. A 6’10” pitcher is a scary sight when you’re standing in the box and he’s throwing the ball 90 MPH.

    All, and I mean all I’m saying is that I think he had more potential as a professional baseball player than a professional basketball player. I can’t say that he’s better off or worse off for that decision at this point. Just hope the ‘Bama” doc or one of his “ghost surgeons” do a good job with the surgery.

  16. redfred2 08/18/2007 at 11:03 PM #

    I guess you can tell that I get a little wrung up over the subject of Brackman’s earlier decision, but it goes back to things like the last incoming freshmen class and how they were allowed to walk without any resistance. Some people saying that it was the ONLY fair decision to make. Yeah, it was fair to the other programs who wanted to swoop in and take our commits during the coaching debacle. I personally think that decision not show any resist publicly only aided in demeaning the whole process and the purpose for signing a LOI on a nationwide level. It just seems to me that whether or not NC State has a legitimate and legal right to demand that the university honors it’s own commitments, and expects to be taken seriously. Some in the fanbase are always going say that it is only right to just let it go, don’t stand up and fight, you’ll come out better in the end. That is just fantassyland. It seems that if NC State stands to benefit from say, the outcome someone’s personal decision, or even if NCSU has a signed legal document stating their rights, that those same folks in fanbase always want to give it away without even trying to affect the outcome. They also seem to feel they are above anyone who thinks otherwise.

    They don’t want NCSU to exercise it’s rights or try to use it’s influence. These are the same people that cannot let Chris Washburn go. They will just give it away without any resistance, and beat you over the head with anything they think is bad, no matter trivial or how ago long it happened.

    Brackman could have, and should have, played basketball last season. He has, or rather had, more than enough talent to be a real factor in the ACC. I believe his MLB draft value dropped, as someone else rightly stated much earlier, because there was no longer the perceived BB distraction that was taking away from his focus on baseball.

    I’m just whining over spilled milk, as they say, I’ll try to drop it from here on out. Apologies for the rant.

  17. PackGirl 08/18/2007 at 11:04 PM #

    Redfred- I agee 100%. I was one of the few who questioned Brackman’s decision not to play basketball last year. Everyone acted like it was a no-brainer that he shouldn’t but there were too many intangibles to say that. In hindsisght, we now find out that he was bored because of having too much time on his hands and spent too much time in the weight room (B-rack said this himself). Additionally, a couple sports writers speculated that he had trouble with his arm because he had never pitched so many innings before (because of basketball). I dont’ think he made a bad decision, but I wish he would have gone with his instincts.

  18. redfred2 08/18/2007 at 11:27 PM #

    Packgirl

    I remember you saying something back then also. I think we were about the only ones with a different take on it that spoke up. I remember being berated and called selfish because I thought it still feasible and not absolutely crazy for him to still consider playing college basketball.

    Oh well.

  19. Andy 08/18/2007 at 11:59 PM #

    It should also be noted that a big part of him “slipping” to 30th was having scott boras as his agent, making it very possible the yanks/sawx were the only teams who thought they could sign him

  20. highstick 08/19/2007 at 12:08 AM #

    Seems like you guys have some “inside poop” that I’m not aware of and I respect that. My comments were strictly from someone on the “outside looking in”. I still feel like there’s a possibility that Ben and Costner developed a little faster this year w/o his presence. There’s also no telling how much differently Brackman would have played under a HWSNBN’d style of play. Could have been interesting!

    What I don’t understand is how you can have excess time on your hands if you’re a student playing one, let alone two major sports.

    Don’t worry about the rant, I’m sure you’re on to something that I’m not aware of.

  21. redfred2 08/19/2007 at 12:24 AM #

    Andy, agreed, the 30th spot is somewhat deceiving. The contract is none too shabby for a rookie pitching prospect facing elbow surgery.

  22. BoKnowsNCS71 08/19/2007 at 11:11 AM #

    Background question: Brackman got his initial arm injury while or due to playing:
    a) baseball
    b) basketball
    c) both (aggravated by both)
    d) someother sport or
    e) a non sport injury

    I don’t know the answer — this is just a question.

  23. noah 08/19/2007 at 1:49 PM #

    Baseball. You don’t tear your UCL playing basketball. You tear your UCL from overwork.

    It’s usually not a tear that happens all at once either. It gets worn or frayed over time and either pops, or a doctor notices the damage and suggests replacement.

    It’s why a lot of pitchers come back from it better than before. All of a sudden, their elbow is structurally sound and nice and tight. They can get a lot more of the whip-action that gives a pitch its velocity.

    Basketball was a waste of time for Brackman. It kept him away from the mound and it drastically increased his exposure to injury. If you want to know how fragile a pitcher’s arm is, ask Brien Taylor. That kind of shoulder dislocation isn’t exactly unheard of in basketball.

    Most MLB players are prohibited from playing basketball (remember Aaron Boone?). If you get hurt in a pickup game, the team can void your contract. Playing basketball this year would have been an incredibly poor signal to every team scouting him about his commitment to baseball.

  24. BoKnowsNCS71 08/19/2007 at 8:15 PM #

    Thanks. Noah. Appreciate the insight.

  25. redfred2 08/19/2007 at 8:49 PM #

    Noah, I could shoot down every aspect of what you just said about Brackman’s decision except one, and that is just pure negative speculation on your part at best, that is that he would have been injured. No one, not you, not me, nobody, can say that. We can say that he did get hurt in college though, but not on the BB court.

    I have way too much to say on this subject, so I’ll just ask this; I’m wondering just how far back in the AMATEUR athletics field you are willing to go to say that it unwise to devote time to another sport? I ask that because I know for sure that the imaginary line there has already slipped further on back in my lifetime. I mean, just how far back do you think it has to go to where it is just about the sports and playing the games again, and not just ALL ABOUT THE MONEY? Apparently the AMATEUR game and the AMATUER ranks of collegiate sports is not far enough now, like it was in my day. So how about high school? Whoops, just about too late there already. Junior high? Grade school, maybe? When will the kids in high school start devoting all of their time only to the single sport that they are really good in, all just for the $$$ and because of fear injury that MAY(???) occur elsewhere in other sports? It will happen.

    In my opinion the emphasis on money and professional sports has already way overstepped it’s bounds and ruined many of the pure aspects of amateur sports, as well as some amateur, now professional, athletes. I don’t think it can be stopped but also think that maybe some of the folks perched up there at the highest level that sports have to offer, might just rethinking what they have already set in motion right now, at this very moment.

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