Matt Smith, de facto crown jewel of the Abreu trade, has been shut down for the year and will undergo the Tommy John proceedure. This is somewhat significant beyond the trade and the projection of Smith as the primary lefty out of the pen...

It's also the second time in a year that pitcher transitioning from the minors to the majors in this organization has had to get the TJ treatment. Scott Mathieson had to do so last year. Carlos Carrasco, the organization's top prospect, had the procedure early on in his career and seems to be recovering well a few years afterward. While Tom Gordon's troubles are most likely. age related, one can't help the headaches with Brett Myers and Freddy Garcia could have been avoided.

My question is this: is the team bad at reading the conditions of the arms it acquires, bad at developing the arms it has in that they overwork them somehow or misdevelop them, or is this just something every organization goes through?