Baldelli sidelined indefinitely by muscle condition

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli has what he called “metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities” that leads to extreme fatigue and a breakdown of muscles in his legs. As a result, he will be placed on the disabled list and will not begin the season with the Rays.

His return is unknown at this point, Baldelli said during a press conference late Wednesday morning before the Rays-Yankees spring training game at Al Lang Field.
The condition prevents his body from properly turning food and oxygen to generate energy.

“So, it becomes very difficult to go out and be on the field every day and play. It’s difficult for me to explain this to you in such short terms,” Baldelli said. “When I say fatigued, literally, I go out there and my body is spent after a short amount of time on the field and makes it extremely frustrating and difficult. But it’s kind of a reality right now. It’s something we’re dealing with the best we can.”

The condition is the cause of his hamstring injuries suffered during the past two seasons.

Baldelli spent the offseason traveling the country to see medical specialists. Rays vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said those findings led to the diagnosis.

“It’s rare in a professional athlete,” Friedman said. “From what I understand is its common in every day life. It’s difficult for an athlete of his caliber in this sport, let’s put it this way, if this were an endurance sport, cycling, basketball, he would have virtually zero chance. But because it’s baseball, a little bit of a different nature, we remain cautiously optimistic.”

The team has an April 1 deadline to pick up Baldelli’s option for 2009, which calls for an $8 million salary or a $4 million buyout. Friedman said the Rays will likely decline the option but stated the organization will continue to seek treatment for Baldelli and hopes he remains with the organization.

Baldelli played in just two games this spring, getting just four at-bats as a designated hitter. He last played March 4.

The 26-year-old, who was the sixth player taken in the 2000 draft, is optimistic he will return.

“As far as my baseball career, I’m not standing in front of you saying I’m retiring,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to pursue any avenue that we can to try and figure out what is going on and have a better understanding of what is going on. At this time, through all the extensive testing that we’ve done, we don’t have a concrete answer. The doctor’s consensus is these are the problems that I’m experiencing. They’ve been unable to specifically identify the exact reasons for the exact problem. That’s kind of frustrating.”