MARINERS NOTEBOOK: Beltre to have surgery on thumb

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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Gold Glove third baseman Adrian Beltre, who played more than a season and a half with a torn ligament in his left thumb, will undergo surgery and need four to five months of rehabilitation before playing again.

“I should probably have it now, before the season ends, to be fully ready for spring training,” Beltre said Thursday. “But I feel guilty walking away from my teammates. I know what I should do, and I probably will do it, but I haven't decided yet.

“I've played with it since I hurt it last year. We did an MRI in December and found the tear, but by then it was too late to do anything and not miss the start of the season.”

While weighing his decision, Beltre talked his way into manager Jim Riggleman's pregame lineup.

Trainer Rick Griffin, on the other hand, urged Beltre to have the surgery as quickly as possible.

“The sooner the surgery is done, the sooner the rehabilitation process begins,” Griffin said. “Adrian will be in a cast, then a splint, for about six weeks. The rehabilitation process is about four months.”

“If you wait until Oct. 1, you’re talking about the end of January,” general manager Lee Pelekoudas. “Give him credit for what he’s gone through – it makes you wonder what he could do with a healthy thumb.”

Beltre initially hurt his thumb May 31, 2007 on a diving play at third base at Safeco Field. Team X-rays showed no break, Beltre missed about two weeks and then continued playing with the injury.

In the offseason, he rested the thumb until early December – then found swinging a bat as painful as it had been in September. He had an MRI in Seattle that month and the tear was found in his thumb.

“You’re basically talking about a ‘Tommy John’ surgery for the thumb,” Griffin said. “They’ll use a piece of donor tissue to replace the torn ligament.”

On the day Beltre has his thumb surgery, he'll also have an operation on his left shoulder to clean up a painful bone spur there.

“This guy plays hurt, and he may be the toughest player I've ever seen," Riggleman said.

Beltre said he will need a day or two to decide when – not if – to have the surgery.

“Some of the time I’m dumb, I can be stubborn,” he said. “Swinging the bat hurts. It’s hurt for the past year and a half, so why not just finish the season with my teammates and then have it done? I need to think about it.”

Short hops

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