Rumors of a trade surround Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook, but he would like nothing better than to stay in Cleveland and fulfill the final year of his three-year contract after battling back from Tommy John surgery.
View full sizeJake Westbrook bypassed free agency by signing a contract extension with the Indians in April 2007, one year before his contract expired. But shortly after the new deal kicked in during 2008, he began having serious arm problems.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Before dealing with the question of the Indians trading Jake Westbrook, we need to hear a bit from the Tribe right-hander.
"Five starts," Westbrook said.
It was five starts to open the 2008 season. It was five starts into a three-year, $33 million contract extension he had signed a year earlier that he knew something was very wrong with his right arm.
Then came 18 months of surgery, rehabilitation and frustration.
Five starts in two years, none after May 28, 2008.
This from a guy who averaged 30 starts a season for the previous four years. This from a pitcher who believed his job was to chew up 200 innings, to be "a guy the team can count on."
"When you sign a contract like I did, you want to honor it," said Westbrook. "I know it's not supposed to bother you. If you signed a contract, then do the best you can. That's all you can do. But I knew I wasn't able to do what they paid me to do -- taking the ball every fifth day."
Westbrook had reconstructive elbow surgery on June 12, 2008. He set a personal deadline of June 12, 2009, to be back in the Majors. After the operation, commonly called "Tommy John surgery," most pitchers are able to return to game action in 12 to 15 months.
For a few, it is 18 months.
Westbrook always has been a superbly conditioned athlete. He has had some minor injuries over the years, but usually came back faster than expected.
Not this time.
"I just came back too soon," he said. "I wasn't fully healed. I was a little older, and sometimes it just takes longer."
Now 32, Westbrook speaks from experience. And also from a sense of gratitude and emotional relief, as he was the Tribe's Opening Day starter this season. He is 6-5 with a 4.67 earned-run average.
Before this season, there were times when he wondered, "What if I can't come back?"
Would those five starts early in 2008 be his last in the majors? Would he be a "mistake," a guy who signed the big contract and then never paid any dividends?
He was determined to do everything possible to see if he could -- as he said a second time -- "honor the contract."
Westbrook tried pitching again in the Puerto Rican winter league last November. For the first time in years, his elbow didn't throb the next day after he pitched.
He began to think, "Maybe I will be OK."
He went to spring training, and he realized, "Other than being a little tired the day after I pitched, my arm was great. I go out to play catch and my arm was ready to go."
He began to believe the elbow had indeed been reconstructed -- that stories he heard from other pitchers about how their arms actually were stronger after Tommy John surgery could indeed be true.
In April, he was a shaky 0-2 with a 5.53 ERA. Since May 1, he is 6-3 with a 4.47 ERA. Compared to his pre-surgery days, Westbrook's sinker isn't quite as sharp. But he is still a solid major-league starter in an era where the average ERA is about 4.25.
"It means so much for me to be back on the mound," he said. "I didn't just want to come back, but to be at the level that I was before."
Westbrook is in the final year of his contract, and he knows he could be traded to a contender.
"It's a business and I have no control over that," he said. "But I've been here since [2001]. My family likes it here, and so do I. I want to pitch in big games again, and I hope one day that happens to me here."
So what should the Indians do?
If they can make a trade for significant prospects -- as they did for infielder Casey Blake in 2008 -- they have to consider it. But dumping Westbrook just to save what is left on his contract would be a mistake.
To reach Terry Pluto: terrypluto2003@yahoo.com, 216-999-4674