Vizcaino has a torn ligament in elbow/Salcedo set to debut in Rome

[Andy G.]

Arodys Vizcaino has torn ligament in his right elbow. (http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100630&content_id=11777204&notebook_id=11792612&vkey=notebook_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl) The article says that it has been determined by Dr. Doug Murray that he doesn't need surgery right now, and that the Braves are hopeful he'll be throwing again in six weeks. Vizcaino is a real talent. Hopefully this is only a hiccup on his rode to being in the major leagues.

The article also says that Edward Salcedo, the Dominican shortstop the Braves signed this offseason, is going to debut at Rome within the next week(which Hillbilly had already informed us of in the Rome thread). It will be very interesting to see how he does in his first taste of minor league ball.

[Andy G.]

Also in the link and part of the Salcedo portion...

Mike Minor is going to be debut at Triple A on Thursday. Exciting news that he's flying through the system. If he continues to progress...well, we're going to have an even greater luxury than we had this past winter when we were comfortable trading Vazquez.
Yeah, with Medlen getting the nod over Kawakami in the rotation, we may actually see both Lowe and Kawakami dealt in the offseason. I know we've talked about the ramifications of trading Kawakami, but a 2011 rotation of Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens, Medlen and Minor would be one of the most talented and probably the most cost efficient rotation in all of baseball.

Then again, Kawakami may not have enough trade value in the offseason to get a deal done, though that's hard to imagine with all the teams desperate for even a semi-dependable #4 or #5 starter. We also could see Kawakami dealt before the deadline this season, or we could see Medlen dealt in the offseason. It's too early to make any assumptions, obviously, but it's a nice luxury like you said, and it's fun to think about.

I just hate to think that this injury to Vizcaino will be something that hurts his career in a major way. Are you surprised they're not going to do surgery on his elbow? I can't help but think that they're just delaying the inevitable, or even that he'd be better off getting surgery whether he absolutely needs it or not. I guess that's just because I've gotten so used to people coming back from surgery in recent years that I take it for granted a little bit. I don't know.

[warefreak]

All I know is I'd rather have him have the tommy john now vs later when we might need him. It's pretty rare when a team can say they have all the starting pitching they might need for the next couple of years.