The Return of Sizemore

[absintheofmalaise]

I know we have a thread on projecting Sizemore already, but, the always excellent Alex Speier wrote an in depth article on Sizemores career, injuries and what he went through to try to make it back to a MLB roster. There is information that has already been written about and discussed in the article, but what it really tells you, IMO, is what kind of player and what kind of attitude Sizemore has about baseball. Hopefully, he will make it through the season without missing too much time. 
He had the opportunity to sign with teams that needed an upgrade during the 2013 season, but refused because he wanted to be at 100% and not have to continue rehabbing while playing. 
 

But the narrative of the miracle obscures a far more purposeful reality, and results in a significant misconception about Grady Sizemore: He didn't necessarily *have* to miss two full seasons -- a duration that has made him a nearly unprecedented case study. There is at least a decent possibility that he *could* have returned last year. 
But after spending three years facing the limitations of a player who had been reduced to a shell of his former abilities and another season in which he was unable to play at all, the three-time All-Star and former possessor of the title of "best all-around player in the game" recalibrated his sites. 
His goal was not simply to return to the field as a contributing baseball player, perhaps a part-timer who would settle into life in new, less taxing roles. His goal was to return to the field as Grady Sizemore. 

"I think that was always the plan," Sizemore said. "I don't think I ever looked at it from any other perspective."

But Sizemore was adamant: No. No deals in 2013. 
He did not want to feel tension between a team's needs and his body's rehab and strengthening needs. Until he'd put himself in position to feel 100 percent, he had no interest in signing a deal. He did not want to jeopardize the health gains he was making by cutting corners as he so often had out of his desperate desire to contribute and earn his salary.
"If we wanted to, we could have pushed," said Dannenberg. "It was always a matter of, we don't need to go out and try to get ready for playoff baseball."
Antonetti met with Sizemore casually on multiple occasions during his year away. 
"I think he was focused on, 'I want to come back and be healthy. I don't want to be the pressure of being with an organization, trying to come back and perform. I need to get my body in a place where I'm healthy first and unrestricted and then can layer baseball on top of it,' " Antonetti relayed. "I think that made a lot of sense. It was the right approach for him. He didn't feel like there was some deadline for which he had to rush back. His sole focus was on getting his body conditioned and strong."

By the time Sizemore started holding workouts for interested teams -- scouts and medical personnel -- at Athletes' Performance last winter, he once again was demonstrating some of the athleticism and explosiveness that had made him such a rarity in the game before his injuries. He looked powerful and, for the first time in years, healthy. 
There were offers. Plenty of offers. Given his long time away from the game, however, just two or three of those were of the major league variety, most notably one from the Reds, who featured a nearly ideal opportunity for Sizemore's recovery: With prospect Billy Hamilton perhaps ready in center but still able to benefit from minor league development to refine his approach, a healthy Sizemore wouldn't be blocked from emerging as the starting center fielder, but he likewise needn't be rushed if he wasn't ready. 
Sizemore was ready to sign with Cincinnati, a team that would offer the added benefit of keeping him in his adopted professional baseball home of Ohio. But that's when Red Sox director of sports medicine service Dan Dyrek showed up at Athletes' Performance. 
The rapport was immediate. Over the course of a couple of hours, Dyrek expressed a far more precise understanding of what had happened to leave Sizemore sidelined and what he needed to do to stay healthy than anything the outfielder had heard from any other team. Dyrek noticed, for instance, some issues with Sizemore's athletic alignment and suggested some exercises to improve it. Within days, Sizemore experienced physical improvement that he traced directly to Dyrek's suggestions.