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What Happened With Feliciano’s Physical?


By Mike Silva ~ April 15th, 2011. Filed under: Mike Silva, New York Mets.

No, I am not Nostradamus, but it didn’t require me to go to medical school in order to express concerns about the utilization of Pedro Feliciano. Now that Feliciano is likely headed for surgery I wonder how this shoulder issue didn’t show up during his winter physical.

I reached out to an MLB source that is familiar with the process of players going through a physical. This individual has no knowledge of Feliciano’s situation, but when I asked if it was inconceivable the Yankees pushed it through when they signed him he agreed it could be possible. Apparently, MRI’s are not always a standard procedure for every trade/signing. I was told some deals require the player to be alive and breathing for them to pass. Brian Cashman claims Feliciano did have an MRI in December that didn’t disclose the injury. It does seem peculiar how his health deteriorated with just normal spring training utilization. I am not accusing Brian Cashman of lying, but it wouldn’t be the first time a professional baseball team tried to cover up a broken down internal process.

This capsule injury leads me to believe that Feliciano won’t pitch very much throughout the 2 year/$8 million dollar deal. This is the second lefty the Yankees have signed that’s broken down. Damaso Marte is on the last year of his 3 year deal as the Yanks can buy him out at the end of the year. Marte hasn’t pitched a full season during the contract, but his performance during the 2009 postseason (no runs in 4 innings) probably makes the signing worth its weight in gold.

Since this isn’t the first time a free agent pitcher has broken down on the Yanks, perhaps it’s time to evaluate their process of administering physicals.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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1 Response to What Happened With Feliciano’s Physical?

  1. Chakrabs
    April 17th, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    Getting an MRI that is not medically indicated goes against basic medical ethics. That being said, the Yankees likely own their own MRI scanner and if not, certainly can afford as many scan as they want. I have no idea how a possible shoulder injury slipped by the Yanks. That being said, with Feliciano’s heavy overuse over the past 3 years, its not outside the realm of possibility that the injury occurred rapidly over the course of a few days or weeks and wouldn’t have shown up on a a physical anyway.

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