May 29 -- MORE ON MYERS

BY SCOTT LAUBER

So there I was Wednesday, chatting up Ruben Amaro Jr. to gather material for an off-day story that would run in Friday's News Journal. It was going well, too. Amid growing hysteria that the Phillies absolutely, positively HAD to make a play for Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt or even Jason Marquis or Brad Penny, Amaro admitted that he was in no rush to make a trade. In fact, he said he actually was beginning to feel pretty good again about the Phils' starting rotation.

"I've seen kind of a trend over the last 10 days or so where things have kind of stabilized, which is what we thought would happen," Amaro told me. "Right now, I see a trend toward a more positive situation for our starting rotation. But, obviously, things can change day to day."

Well ...

It's safe to say things have changed. Within hours of Amaro uttering those words, Brett Myers hobbled off the mound in the sixth inning, his balky left hip having flared once again and more violently than ever. And yesterday, an MRI exam revealed fraying and possible tearing of the labrum, dense tissue and cartilage that attaches to the hip socket.

The diagnosis from team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti: Surgery.

In fact, surgery is inevitable. The only question is whether Myers can put it off until the offseason and pitch through the pain. He will get a second opinion from Dr. Bryan Kelly, the New York hip specialist who operated on Chase Utley in November, but Myers likely will hear exactly what Ciccotti told him. Surgery, immediate surgery, is the best solution, and if he has surgery, Ciccotti estimates a three- to four-month rehabilitation. That would sideline Myers until early- to mid-September, at the earliest, and even then, he'd need to make some rehab starts before he would be ready to step on a major-league mound. It isn't unreasonable, then, to suggest that Myers' season -- and possibly his Phillies career -- may be over. Myers is in the final season of a three-year, $25.75 million contract.

But there may be one other option. As Baseball Prospectus injury analyst Will Carroll noted in a telephone conversation last night, Alex Rodriguez had surgery in March that mended his torn hip labrum enough that he was able to rejoin the Yankees a few weeks ago. The catch: Even if A-Rod is able to make it through the season, he'll likely need to have another surgery in the winter to fully repair the problem. But at least he didn't have to miss most of the season, like Utley would have if he'd have had his hip surgery during the season.

"For me, the question is, can [Myers] have that Alex Rodriguez hybrid surgery and come back in eight to 12 weeks," Carroll told Philled In. "Eight weeks is awfully aggressive for a pitcher. Twelve, maybe that's possible, but it's so tough that I can't see a way, even if he has the A-Rod surgery, to have him come back."

Of course, we don't know much about Myers' injury. Ciccotti said it's similar in nature to Utley's, although it's in a slightly different area of the hip, and we have no idea how it compares to A-Rod's or Mike Lowell's. Also, it's rare that a pitcher would have an injury like this, Carroll said. So, we don't know if the rehab time for Myers would be slower or faster than for a hitter like Utley. The irony, of course, is that Myers is never injured. He has been on the disabled list only once during his eight-year major-league career (in 2007 for a strained right shoulder). Just the other day, in fact, I was talking to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, and we agreed that Myers would get a big contract on the free-agent market because of his durability.

Regardless, it's not a good situation for the Phillies. For better or worse, Myers is their second-best starter after Cole Hamels, and he has been their steadiest starter for most of the season. Considering the struggles of Jamie Moyer, the inconsistency of Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ's relative lack of experience, the seemingly manufactured urgency to swing a deal appears to have grown more legitimate.

Wasn't able to reach Amaro last night, although I assume he no longer sees the starting rotation "trending in a positive direction." I don't think he'll rush into any trade either. He doesn't want to mortgage the farm system for a quick fix, nor should he. But I don't think any of the Phils' prospects are untouchable. Not anymore. In spring training, when the Lou Marson-for-Clay Buchholz rumors were floated (there was never any validity to that), I advocated making that trade, even though the Phillies like Marson. This team's time to win another championship is now, and from what I've seen, the only thing keeping it from running away with the NL East is a spotty starting rotation that will be further weakened if Myers lands on Kelly's operating table.

Consider this Amaro's first major challenge as GM, and if nothing else, it'll be fascinating to watch how he deals with it.

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Interesting question from Carroll: Myers' velocity dipped earlier this season, and you have to wonder if he was using his legs more to compensate for a loss of arm strength. Perhaps that's what caused his hip to flare and for the condition to worsen. Myers said he's had hip pain in previous seasons, but it has come and gone.

One thing we do know: Myers admitted the hip affected his command, at least on Wednesday night, and helped contribute to the location problems that caused him to give up a majors-leading 17 home runs.

***
Don't forget to weigh in on our poll question in the post directly below. Assuming Myers can't make his next start (at this point, an extremely safe assumption), and assuming the Phillies decide to keep Chan Ho Park in the bullpen (another strong bet), who should face the Padres on Wednesday night at Petco Park?

a) Kyle Kendrick
b) Drew Carpenter
c) Carlos Carrasco
d) Antonio Bastardo
e) Vance Worley

More later.