MLB Rumors: Breaking Down Latest on Injury to Giants' Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is the first casualty of the 2012 marathon known as the MLB season, and here is the latest on one of the best closers in the business going down for a significant amount of time. 

The Giants will be without their closer who didn't seem like himself coming into the spring and clearly was affected by an ailing elbow injury. 

The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea reports via Twitter the gravity of Wilson's injury.

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"Brian Wilson structural damage elbow, facing possible surgery, possibly meeting with Dr. Andrews."

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"— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) April 14, 2012"

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The decision to actually shut down Wilson for surgery has not been made, but it sounds like that is where things are headed. 

MLB.com's Rick Eymer reports Wilson is making the rounds to specialists to get opinions and make sure he gets this done right. However, the closer sounded like he knew what the next step involved already, via MLB.com:

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"If it takes a year, no big deal. If I'm going to pitch forever, this will be a small percentage of my career. The first time it happened, I was a 21-year-old kid who was going to get the opportunity to throw harder."

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All of this is to say that Wilson is not officially headed to season-ending surgery, but that is the most likely scenario. 

The injury leaves the Giants to make a mad scramble to fill the void of the pitcher who has been equal parts dominance and class clown. 

ESPN's Eric Karabell has a fantasy perspective for fantasy owners, and it doesn't look good. It's clear that the Giants will stick with a committee solution for some time. 

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"I'm thinking Romo, Casilla and even lefty Javier Lopez—currently the top Giants reliever on the Player Rater—will all accrue some saves, with nobody topping 20."

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Jason A. Churchill has thoughts on who will own most of the opportunities going forward, and even mentions a scenario involving Heath Hembree. 

Casilla may be the leading candidate, but the injury to Wilson may speed up the process of Triple-A closer Hembree. 

You can bet that any struggles dealt by the closer-by-committee scenario will have the young 23-year old right-hander firmly in the picture. 

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