A Look At Michael Pineda's Injury

                                                                               Photo Credit: New York Daily News

Michael Pineda is done for the year. 

He tore his labrum during a rehab session on Tuesday and underwent surgery yesterday in order to repair it. The surgery takes 12 months for pitchers to fully recover from, meaning the earliest Pineda can return without setbacks would be May 2013. 

Michael Pineda plays for the Yankees. Any other Yankee pitcher suffering a torn labrum would illicit the sad but authentic "haha, suck it Yankees" reaction from me. However, as a true Mariners fan, I can't bring myself to say that. 

Last season, Michael Pineda charmed Mariner fans with his incredible fastball and slider. He made us dream about the future. We could have had two aces at the top of the rotation for the next five years. Then in January, Jack Z shocked the world (slight exaggeration) by trading Pineda for Jesus Montero. 

The trade caused a lot of debate among experts about who "won." The general consensus was that the Yankees held a slight advantage in the deal, but many felt that nobody won the trade, which ultimately made it a fair exchange. 

Now, with Pineda done for a while, it seems that the Mariners have won the trade. My reaction should be: "Wow! We won a trade with the Yankees! It's about time." But it's not. I'm saddened by the news like I've never felt before about a Yankee.

Michael Pineda was special like only Felix had been in my lifetime before him. Like Felix, he was a young Latino power pitcher with an off speed pitch (Pineda has a dirty slider, Felix an amazing change) to die for. Dave Niehaus delivered the best quote about Pineda during his final Spring Training in 2010. It was simple and to the point. After Pineda struck out a guy with a slider, Niehaus said, "Wooo, that stank!"

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