White Sox Danks Done For Season

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 1, 2012 1:30PM

Over the weekend, White Sox GM Kenny Williams was irked when pitcher John Danks talked about possible season-ending surgery. (Perhaps the wily GM had one last deal in the works before yesterday's trading deadline, and Danks' comments made the asking price go up?)

On Tuesday, as the trading deadline passed, the White Sox did in fact shut down their opening day starter for the year in preparation for exploratory surgery Monday on his slow healing shoulder.

The 27-year-old lefty last pitched for the Sox on May 19—ironically his best outing all year—and compiled a 3-4 record with a 5.70 ERA in nine starts before heading to the DL. Danks appeared to be making progress and even made a rehab start with a Sox minor league club in mid-June, he faced a number of setbacks along the way. The team kept hoping for a late season return for the pitcher they committed $65 million to last winter, they decided to protect their investment and get him ready for next year.

For the pitcher many expected to become the staff ace, it's a bad break. “It’s tough,’’ said Danks. “Obviously, this whole time, this has been the absolute last resort. We’ve been going on eight, nine weeks, and we haven’t made improvements that we hoped and thought we’d be making. You do what you got to do.’’

The decision to shut down Danks, however, was no doubt made easier by the addition of Francisco Liriano over the weekend. The former Twins southpaw gives the South Siders six capable starters even with Danks done for the year. As the Sox surprisingly compete for the AL Central crown, the team hopes that it still has enough pitching for the stretch run and postseason.