Carl Crawford Set to Have Tommy John Surgery on Thursday

Update on Monday, August 20 at 6:12 p.m. ET by Jesse Reed

It's official. Crawford's season is over. 

According to NESN's Jenny Dell:

"

#RedSox NEWS: Carl Crawford will undergo Tommy John elbow surgery on Thursday.

— Jenny Dell (@JennyDellNESN) August 20, 2012"

While this is surely disappointing news for the Crawford, the Red Sox and their fans, it's better to get these things taken care of than to let them linger. Hopefully, he makes a full recovery and has a monster year in 2013.

---------End of Update----------

According to ESPN, it would now be a surprise if the Boston Red Sox’s 31-year-old outfielder didn’t have Tommy John surgery this week, on Tuesday. Crawford is currently playing through a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, and the Sox obviously don’t believe it’s worth it for him fight through that pain and finish the 2012 campaign.

The ball club will make an official announcement on their star’s injury status Monday, but according to sources, a decision has already been made.

General manager Ben Cherington actually denied the report, though. Said Cherington, via ESPN:

"

We want to make a focused decision tomorrow on what's best for Carl. Listen to him, look at all the available information and figure out if this is something that needs to be fixed (immediately) or if he can continue to play with it.

"

Considered a major disappointment after inking a seven-year, $142-million deal with the BoSox in late 2010, Crawford has batted well recently. In the past seven days, he’s recorded a batting average of .375 as well as six RBI. And the odds that the Red Sox fight their way into the postseason would shrink even further without No. 13.

Right now, Boston has a record of just 59-62 and is 4-6 in its last 10 games. The Sox aren’t making any progress and are 13.5 games back in the AL East and 7.5 in the wild-card race. They haven’t been doing themselves any favors as of late.

And that may be why they throw in the towel on Crawford’s season. If they throw in the towel, of course.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels