Troy Glaus has been trying to come back from injury all season, and the timetable just keeps getting pushed back. The latest news is that he has left his minor-league rehab assignment and is shut down indefinitely. With around two months left in the season, we are nearing the writing-on-the-wall portion of Glaus' 2009 campaign. It's easy to say his season is in jeopardy, but we already knew that. The Cardinals already knew it, otherwise they wouldn't have pushed all their chips to the middle of the table in acquiring Mark DeRosa and Matt Holliday (DeRosa can play second, third or outfield, but with Holliday around they don't have a place in the outfield for him).
Therefore, the major impact here is simply on Glaus himself. The Cardinals are just fine without him. You could even argue they are better off, what with DeRosa's versatility and the fact that they went hard after Matt Holliday -- who is presently on fire.
Glaus, though, is a free agent at the conclusion of this season. Not getting back on a major league field, in addition to being 33 years old, will really hurt his value in what looks to be a free-agent season that will see very few dollars thrown around.
Another layer of misery for Glaus is the fact that he was named in the Mitchell Report and is now having trouble recovering from injury. Any responsible general manager will be worried that those two items are related.
No matter how you slice it, Glaus is going to have a rough time finding an offer even remotely comparable to his last one (he's making just over $12 million this season).
