According to Rotoworld, Greg Colbrunn has a herniated disc in his back, and may have surgery, which would put him out until August.
The Colbrunn comeback has turned into a bad joke. Seriously, I don't understand what benefit the Rangers think they are going to derive from keeping him around. The fact that they went into spring training as the #1 option at DH is troubling enough, but with him continuing to lurk in the background, rehabbing, getting hurt again, returning to Oklahoma...it is just getting pitiful.
The one positive about Colbrunn having back surgery would be that, once management can no longer delude themselves that the solution for righthanded DH/bench bat is no longer a rehabbed wrist away, they might quit limping along with Chad Allen and try to do something to actually shore up that spot on a more long-term (i.e., the next couple of months) basis.
Allen isn't hitting this year, he hasn't hit during his career, he has no value defensively, and he's 30. As depth at AAA, someone you can call up for a week or two in a pinch and not worry about what happens when you drop him from the 40 man roster thereafter, he's great. As a platoon DH, or someone getting regular ABs, he's unacceptable. So perhaps back surgery will result in the Rangers finally giving up on Colbrunn's imminent return, leading to them doing something to solve their DH problem.
As a reminder, Greg Colbrunn was originally signed to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, with a provision that allowed him to become a free agent if he wasn't added to the 40 man roster by March 16. Colbrunn was hurt and terrible this spring, and yet the Rangers were terrified at the idea of him leaving and getting a better deal elsewhere...I'm sure the demand for a 35 year old DH with persistent injury problems was through the roof.
So the Rangers waived Jason Bourgeois to make room for Colbrunn, and Colbrunn got a guaranteed $650,000 for 2005 (from a team supposedly pinching pennies). Colbrunn promptly (and not surprisingly) went on the D.L. for the 16th time in his career, and at this point, looks unlikely to ever return.
Personally, I would have preferred to see Tom Hicks set fire to 6,500 $100 bills in the TBIA parking lot. It would have had more entertainment value.