Madson 'shocked' about season ending

IT WAS NOT A good weekend if you were a former Phillies pitcher.

Ryan Madson, expected to be Cincinnati's closer after leaving the Phillies and signing a 1-year deal with the Reds, will miss the 2012 season because of a torn ligament in his right elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery, which is tentatively set for April 4. The operation will take place in Cincinnati with team medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek performing the procedure.

Madson returned to Arizona on Sunday to close up his living arrangements and visit with teammates.

"I was shocked first," Madson said Sunday morning about the diagnosis. "I was not expecting that at all, that result. It took me a couple of hours to get over it, really. I was very apologetic to the Reds organization and my teammates. I feel like I let them down a little bit."

Madson agreed in January to a 1-year contract guaranteeing $8.5 million, after a $44 million, 4-year deal to stay with Philadelphia collapsed in November.

The 31-year-old reported discomfort in his elbow at the start of spring training but insisted it was an annual ailment that he had always worked through. He didn't pitch in any exhibition games. Madson pitched batting practice Tuesday and had been scheduled to throw again on Friday.

"He looked very good on Tuesday. He felt some tightness the next day," Jocketty said. "He felt fine all spring until lately. Even after he sat out for a little bit and came back he felt real good. After the live session the other day it felt tight but even when he left the other day, he felt fine."

Dr. Kremchek explained to Jocketty that bleeding made it appear the tear was recent.

Madson's contract calls for a $6 million salary this year, of which $2 million is deferred until Nov. 1 and $2 million until Nov. 1, 2013. The deal includes a $11 million mutual option for 2013 with a $2.5 million buyout.

Madson saved 32 games in 34 chances last year for the Phillies and was to have replaced Francisco Cordero as the Reds' closer.

Meanwhile, down in Houston, the Astros are saying lefthander Sergio Escalona will have ligament-replacement surgery on his left elbow. The Astros made the announcement Saturday, a day after an MRI diagnosed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

The 27-year-old, who appeared in 14 games for the Phillies in 2009, allowed four earned runs in 1 1/3 innings in two spring training appearances. On Feb. 24, Escalona said he felt a twinge in the elbow after a stint in a batting cage.

* New York Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain has been released from a hospital, 3 days after dislocating his right ankle bouncing on a trampoline. New York general manager Brian Cashman said before the Yankees played a Detroit Tigers' split squad Sunday that Chamberlain's recovery is going as well as can be expected. Chamberlain needed surgery for the injury, in which a bone broke through the skin.

* Alex Cora's brief career with St. Louis ended when the Cardinals released the utility infielder. Cora hit .208 in 24 at-bats with one run, one RBI and no extra base hits. He had agreed Feb. 6 to a minor league contract that would have paid $800,000 if he had been added to the 40-man roster. St. Louis also released catcher Koyie Hill.