Giants Lose Closer Brian Wilson for the Season

Opponents of the San Francisco Giants will not need to fear the Beard for the rest of the 2012 Major League Baseball season. Closer Brian Wilson will be out for the rest of the season after being diagnosed with structural damage to his right elbow that will require surgery in order to fix (of the dreaded Tommy John variety).

Apparently the injury (or at least the final straw) occurred while the team was in Denver to play the Rockies. Wilson has said he felt a pop, but hoped it was just inflammation at first. Well, turns out it was a lot more than that as the team found out after he had an MRI on Friday.

This is a shame for the Giants who now have to replace one of the best closers in the game. It's a real shame for Wilson who now with two major surgeries under his belt will be looked at as an injury risk when it comes to future contract negotiations. After recording 163 saves over the last four seasons he was due to cash in when he became arbitration eligible next year. That may not be the case now.

At the age of 30 with a career ERA of 3.21, 171 total saves, and more than a strikeout per inning pitched he'll still be worth every penny he gets paid, but thanks to the injury it would not be surprising if it ends up being a little bit less now.

Going forward the plan for the Giants is to use a closer-by-committee approach (suck it fantasy owners). When Bruce Bochy says committee he means it. Last season Wilson missed some time due to injury as well; the team ended up having six players other than Wilson record saves.

Article by Travis Pulver