Alex Rodriguez Should Have Surgery Now

I know. I'm sick of the Alex Rodríguez posts, too, but right now, he's not a story, he IS the story in Yankeeland.

While no surgery has been scheduled yet, courtesy River Ave Blues via Pete Abraham and Brian Cashman, the fact is that surgery will be likely needed at some point in time, and sooner rather than later.

It makes no sense to put the surgery off, even a little bit.

Think about this:

While the human body possesses an incredible ability to heal and cure itself with minor injuries, a torn hip labrum doesn't really fit that label.

A seriously injured hip will only deteriorate if left untreated, much like the teeth of someone that avoids the dentist, or cataracts or glaucoma. Now, Rodríguez might not be in danger of losing his teeth or his sight, but he is in danger of losing his ability to pivot, and, for a hitter, that's no small thing.

So the question here is, what do the Yankees and Alex Rodríguez gain by delaying surgery? Potentially some playing time in April and maybe May? While Rodríguez's Spring Training numbers have been all right, there's no telling how good they could be if he was healthy.

Rodríguez's production will likely decline as the injury worsens, and it will reach a point where it is more detrimental to play him than to sit him; it's only a matter of when that happens.

If the Yankees lose Rodríguez for four months, is it not better to lose him now? There still is the entire month of March; if Rodríguez was to have the surgery tomorrow he could theoretically be back before the All-Star break, healthy and right in time for a pennant race.

What's more, there are still free agents on the market--the Yankees could sign someone like Mark Grudzielanek to a one year deal with relatively little harm done, and it's not as though the Yankees have issues with signing players with impossible-to-spell names (Doug Mientkiewicz, anyone?)...just sayin'.

If it's a situation about getting the most value out of your asset, would not the Yankees get more value from a healthy Rodríguez than an injured one that deteriorates as the season goes on?

Or have the Yankees/Rodríguez/anyone with any possible say in the matter completley forgotten what happened to Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui last year?