Heralded Oakland A's starting pitcher Brett Anderson has undergone Tommy John surgery, the team has announced.
The A's were hoping to contend this year with a revamped offense and a top-flight group of young starting pitchers, and Anderson was considered the brightest of those young starters.
Anderson came over to Oakland, along with Chris Carter, Dana Eveland, Greg Smith, Aaron Cunningham, and Carlos Gonzalez, in exchange for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson.
Oakland, already double-digits back in the A.L. West, will almost certainly now going into "selling" mode at the trade deadline without its young ace.
Recovery time for Tommy John surgery is generally considered to be 12-18 months, and thus Oakland almost certainly will be without Anderson until the second half of the 2012 season, and could be without him until the 2013 season.