Adam Moore Granted 4-6 Months Paid Vacation*

by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 12, 2011 5:56 PM PDT in Seattle Mariners Injury News

The Rangers may have lost superstar Josh Hamilton for two months earlier today on a headfirst slide, but the Mariners have lost Adam Moore for at least twice that long, as the news from his surgery Tuesday is not good.

Moore knew he was in for an operation, but no one was quite sure how badly he was hurt, and no one was going to know until the surgeon got in there and saw the situation for himself. The situation? An "extensive tear" in Moore's meniscus. So, rather than the best-case scenario in which Moore would've been out for several weeks, now he's out for much much longer. The general timetable is 4-6 months, meaning there's no guarantee Moore's able to return to the field this season.

It's a miserable break for a guy who's just trying to establish himself as a big league-quality catcher. A knee injury cost Moore the early opportunity to jump in front of Rob Johnson and get comfortable a year ago, and now a knee injury has cost him the opportunity to get a lot of time behind Miguel Olivo in 2011. These are chances he's missed - chances he'll never get back - and there's no telling what impact his medical misfortune will have on his career.

If there's good news, it's that Moore's still only 26, so it's not like he's reached the end of the line. Although knee injuries are bad news for catchers, he'll make a full recovery and get after it again when he's better. But he's got to be one of the most unhappy people in Seattle right now, and no matter what you think of his skillset, you have to feel bad for him, because he doesn't deserve this kind of shit luck.

* consisting of strenuous physical therapy

Tweet Comment 18 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Just disgustingly bad luck for Moore.

Nothing to do but shake your head.

by esoteric on Apr 12, 2011 6:14 PM PDT reply actions

Was it really (or entirely) bad luck, though?

It’s not like this was a collision at home plate or getting nailed by deflected ball or a bat at the end of a swing. He blew that knee doing a pretty routine catcher kind of thing. Maybe his knees just can’t hold up to being a catcher, or maybe he’s not doing something (or is doing something to much) in his workout routine? It might be bad luck in the sense of bad genetics, like a lot of players who get too stout and slow to remain shortstops, but staying healthy is something of a skill too.

Please understand, I feel bad for the guy and wanted him to do well, and I don’t want to “blame the victim” (in the usual sense of that phrase); I’m just wondering if, as the history of knee injuries continues into Clement territory, we may be looking at someone who will ultimately have trouble remaining as a catcher (and as a non-catcher, how much value does he have?) Obviously that’s a question for a later day, after the rehab, but for me at least it is going to linger.

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 12, 2011 6:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I think blowing your knee doing something routine is the definition of bad luck.

I blew mine running around Greenlake, that felt like bad luck to me.

by Smegmalicious on Apr 12, 2011 6:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Dammit Adam!

What did you do to upset the baseball gods?!?

"I would like my undies back"

by Thingray on Apr 12, 2011 6:17 PM PDT reply actions

Ooo, that's not news that I wanted to hear.

That’s so unfortunate. Here’s to a quick recovery Adam

by bomdal on Apr 12, 2011 6:20 PM PDT reply actions

Good thing Olivo's indestructible.

by ThundaPC on Apr 12, 2011 6:23 PM PDT reply actions

On the Facebook thumbnail it looked like someone was shoving Moore into a dugout.

I laughed.

I felt bad.

Pro Ball NW | @JonPBNW

by JonBBT on Apr 12, 2011 6:24 PM PDT reply actions

It's really too bad.

ignacio

by ignacio on Apr 12, 2011 6:35 PM PDT reply actions

means his tear was bad enough that resecting wasn't viable

(Would have cost him too much cartilage). A repair had to be done – which is actually better for long term prevention of degenerative osteoarthritis – since his normal cartilage structure will be maintained.

Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

by blacknoiseNW on Apr 12, 2011 6:41 PM PDT via mobile reply actions

If the repair takes

Repairs have a pretty low success rate. 4-6 months is a titanic amount of time to lose to a meniscus tear. God dammit.

by Smegmalicious on Apr 12, 2011 6:48 PM PDT up reply actions

yeah...this is probably a position changer at a minimum

career ender at worst

Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

by blacknoiseNW on Apr 13, 2011 12:53 AM PDT up reply actions

How is it a position changer at minimum?

by Patrick Stites on Apr 13, 2011 1:48 AM PDT up reply actions

menisci are buffers between the articular cartilage of the femur/tibia

unless Moore bucks the odds – his repaired meniscus is unlikely to withstand the stresses put on catchers’ knees.

For Moore to buck the odds – he has to risk a high probability re-injury. A lower risk approach would be to try him at 1B. Or DH.

Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

by blacknoiseNW on Apr 13, 2011 9:22 AM PDT up reply actions

Thats not position changer at minimum, I'm not sure you know what minimum means.

by Patrick Stites on Apr 13, 2011 9:46 AM PDT up reply actions

I am sure you do not know what "probably" means

Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

by blacknoiseNW on Apr 13, 2011 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions

Commisserations and hope for a speedy recovery

But I really don’t understand why people have always been so high on this guy

by Aly Edge on Apr 12, 2011 7:15 PM PDT reply actions

Menisci are totally stupid.

"I can't recommend highly enough going back and watching old clips of Jose Lopez." -Jeff Sullivan

by joof on Apr 12, 2011 8:11 PM PDT reply actions

I hope for a full recovery, but...

To be the Devil’s Advocate, Adam Moore isn’t very good, and has yet to show that he’s capable of anything at the Major League level. Last year he was 2nd to last in wOBA for minimum 200 PAs (behind Brandon Wood). He’s not a guy you want to go out day after day putting up numbers like that until he gets some consistency.

Granted, our options at catcher are short, and Baron seems like a longshot at this point with his hitting troubles, so this certainly does suck.

by seiferguy on Apr 12, 2011 10:06 PM PDT reply actions