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Rays' Bradford Out 3-4 Months

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Bradford was 4-3 with a 2.12 ERA in 68 appearances with the Rays and Orioles in 2008.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2009

Updated: 02/09/2009 06:08 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - Rays reliever Chad Bradford had elbow surgery last week and will be sidelined three to four months, the team announced today.

Bradford felt discomfort in his elbow while going through his usual offseason program and reported it to the team. An examination revealed loose bodies in the pitcher's right elbow, and those chips were removed arthroscopically last Thursday by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham.

Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said Bradford initially felt some pain during the playoffs and had an MRI at that time, but no structural damage was revealed. The team thought rest would do the trick, but Bradford experienced soreness and swelling on the third day of his throwing program and got it checked out, ultimately leading to the surgery.

The Rays have stockpiled enough relievers over the last month or two that they should be able to fill in Bradford's spot without much trouble until his projected May return.

"One of the things that was most important for us going into this winter was to have a number of candidates for the bullpen," Friedman said. "Injuries happen; they're part of the game. That was an area that we felt like we had some exposure early in the winter, so we aggressively addressed that, in our mind, and we feel like we've got a lot of fairly capable candidates and some very good pitchers who won't make our team."

However, Bradford was one guy who looked like he had the potential to be traded during spring training, giving the Rays a bit of payroll breathing room by moving his $3.5 million salary.

That won't happen now, but one of the many pitchers fighting for only a spot or two in the Opening Day bullpen -- Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann among them -- just received an unexpected opportunity.

In other news, the Rays have officially informed us that they signed Morgan Ensberg to a minor league contract with an invitation to big-league camp. Ensberg was an All-Star for the Astros in 2005 but his performance has dropped off significantly since then. He'll have a chance to make the team as a backup at first base and third base but is likely ticketed for Triple-A Durham to open the season.

Also, the Rays announced they have hired John McLaren, the team's bench coach from 2003-05, as a special assignment scout. McLaren was fired from his job as manager of the Mariners last June.

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