2004 Vancouver Canadians
outfielder, Javier Herrera, who had been pounding the heck out of the
ball in Winter Leagues and spring training, reported to A’s physicians
that he was feeling a twinge in his throwing elbow, and the prognosis
isn’t good.

Baseball America has the details:

Athletics outfield prospect Javier Herrera will likely miss the
entire season after being diagnosed with an injured elbow ligament that
will require Tommy John surgery. Herrera, the organization’s No. 2
prospect, was sent to the minors after a stint in big league camp.
After reporting to the minor league camp, he reported pain in his
elbow. Dr Doug Freedberg in Phoenix confirmed the injury and told
Herrera that he would need reconstructive elbow surgery.

Not. Good. But then, Herrera is only 20 years old, so he’s got plenty
of time to get things back on track. The big question will be, however,
will this surgery take away one of his five tools?

What the injury means for Oakland’s AAA depth is another big question.
Whereas the A’s have ample outfield depth in the majors right now, with
Bradley, Payton, Kotsay, Swisher and Kielty able to patrol the
outfield, after that it gets a little weak. ‘Two Buck’ Chuck Watson is
doing okay in spring training, though he looks likely to end up a AAAA
caliber player more than a real contributor to the big squad, and
former C’s outfielders Danny Putnam, Richie Robnett and Travis Buck are
progressing through the system pretty well, albeit a level or two below
what they’d want to be in order to be potential call-ups for this
season.

Bottom line - it could be worse. But it could also be a lot better…