After 7 years of up and down service, Gavin Floyd has likely thrown his last pitch as a member of the White Sox, thanks to a tear in his flexor muscle near his right elbow, which has caused an unstable ulnar collateral ligament.  Floyd is expected to get a third opinion early next week, and may have to undergo Tommy John surgery, which is likely not how he planned on spending his walk year before hitting the free agent market.  While I would never wish an injury upon any player, I can’t say that I am disappointed that Floyd will no longer take the bump for the Sox.

The White Sox acquired Gavin Floyd following the 2006 season in a trade with the Phillies for Freddy Garcia.  After an inauspicious debut with the White Sox during the ill-fated 2007 campaign, Floyd busted out of the gate in 2008, finishing with a 17-8 record and helping to lead the White Sox to the Central Division title.  Ever since, though, Floyd has become increasingly worse, never finishing above .500 again until last season’s 12-11 mark.  This season had been his worst to date, as he had lost 4 of his 5 starts and the White Sox had dropped all 5.  The maddening thing about Floyd over the past 4+ seasons is that he always had the stuff to succeed, but always seemed unable to string together a run of quality appearances.  Every time you thought he had turned the corner, he imploded again and went into another funk.

The best case scenario for this season would have had Floyd putting things together approaching free agency and the White Sox moving him to a contender for pieces that would help them compete going forward.  Unfortunately, it now seems that he will spend the rest of his White Sox career rehabbing, and they will get nothing for him when he becomes a free agent this fall.  Another classic disappointment from Gavin Floyd.