Joakim Soria To Have Tommy John Surgery

Soria has had Tommy John surgery before, in 2003, on the same elbow (obviously). He recovered and had tremendous success in the major leagues, so there’s reason to believe he’ll be fine in time once more. This procedure isn’t the huge deal that it used to be, and Soria’s just 27, so he should have a long career ahead of him.

But what’ll be interesting is that the Royals hold an $8 million club option for 2013. They might not be willing to guarantee $8 million to a pitcher who didn’t pitch the season before. The Royals could conceivably decline that option, or they could work with Soria to try to re-structure the remainder of his contract.