Threets faces surgery, long rehab on disabled list

While some of his teammates were focused on the big screen television at the far end of the locker room, having a good time watching a rerun of a game from a season long past, at the other end of the room reliever Erick Threets was choking up as he talked about his very future in the game.

This after an MRI revealed that the 28-year-old lefty had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and no doubt a long road to recovery.

"This is going to be the last major setback," said Threets, who suffered the injury in Friday's win over the Yankees. "I'm going to work real hard to make this the last one, and if that doesn't work then I'm going to find another occupation. But I know for a fact I can get outs and I know for a fact I can be effective when we have leads. The timing of this is unfortunate. I feel a little embarrassed actually.

"I've been tight a little bit all season in the elbow. Last season I had a flexor tendon tear and I think I pushed a little too hard and tore the ligament."

His manager sensed as much.

"I got the feeling when that happened, he knew, because when I went out there he didn't know what to say," Ozzie Guillen said. "It's a shame because he has a good arm and he was helping us. Very, very sad moment."

Threets went 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 12 appearances with the Sox in 2010. After placing him on the 15-day disabled list, the Sox recalled right-hander Carlos Torres from Class AAA Charlotte.

On Tuesday, Threets has a meeting with Dr. Lewis Yocum, and he's hoping it marks the beginning of another recovery.

"That's what I'm hoping for," Threets said. "I feel like I finally got to the point where I can consistently get outs. I can definitely get outs. That's the most frustrating part. It's going to take me awhile to get back, but I have to keep faith."

And not tear himself up in the process.

"I understand that," he said. "But at the same time I've been humbled so many times by this game that I was hoping to get some payback."