Phillies Overly Optimistic on Brad Lidge's Return

To hear the Phillies tell it, closer Brad Lidge could be back from surgery in as little as three weeks. Don't believe it.

Barring a near miracle, Lidge can be expected to miss a full six weeks recuperating from arthroscopic knee surgery, then take at least another week or two regaining his form and confidence, based on historical comparisons with other patients, medical authorities told MLBnewsonline.com.

Look for Lidge to be virtually ineffective through the first 10 days of May, and possibly another 10 days or more.

Hopefully for Lidge, that will be the end of it, but more problems could be in store.

With potential psychological difficulties lingering from his Houston Astros meltdowns over the past couple of seasons, a blow such as this is the last thing Lidge needed as he tries to rediscover himself in Philadelphia.

Red Sox See Wily Mo Pena's Value Tumble

There was a time when the Astros might have seriously looked at an offer to trade troubled closer Brad Lidge to the Red Sox for a prospect package with outfielder Wily Mo Pena as one of the centerpieces.

Those days are gone.

The Red Sox decision to sign veteran J.D. Drew and play the once highly regarded 24-year-old Pena only intermittently has reduced Pena's effectiveness to the point that he can barely keep his batting average above .200, and his trade value has plummeted respectively; a rather expensive move, considering that starter Bronson Arroyo was dealt to acquire him.


Lidge -- who has trouble pitching in pressure situations -- would have been an ideal fit in Boston, where he could have pitched with less pressure setting up Jonathan Papelbon.

Now it looks like the Astros will keep Lidge rather than endure a search for a replacement closer, while the Red Sox look to pedal Pena elsewhere.