Mariners notebook: Robinson Cano undergoes surgery

Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano had surgery Tuesday to surgery to fix a sports hernia. Plus news and notes, including a new name that has surfaced for Seattle's managerial vacancy.

BY SHANNON DRAYER

Oct 13, 2015, 2:01 PM Updated: 2:24 pm

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Robinson Cano played through a sports hernia for the majority of the second half of the season. (AP)

(AP)

Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano underwent surgery Tuesday to repair the sports hernia that was revealed in tests the last week of the season. The surgery was performed in Philadelphia by Dr. William Meyers.

Cano suffered what was originally diagnosed as a strained abdominal muscle July 28 and elected to play through it the remainder of the season.

“It’s one of those conditions that athletes can continue to play with for some time if they are comfortable enough, and at some point we usually perform surgery to repair it,” said the team’s surgeon, Dr. Edward Khalfayan, when the scheduled surgery was originally announced.

The injury did not affect Cano’s swing but he did feel pain when he ran and was told to avoid running at full strength. According to Dr. Khalfayan, the sports hernia was always suspected and tests that Cano underwent the final week of the season confirmed it. In addition to the right-side core-muscle injury, an additional MRI revealed a second core-muscle injury on Cano’s left side.

Despite the injury, Cano put up strong second-half numbers and hit .328/.377/.500/.877 after the injury occurred.

The expected recovery time is six weeks and he should be a full go at the start of spring training.

M’s will reportedly interview Phil Nevin

Another name has surfaced in Jerry Dipoto’s search for the next Mariners manager. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that former big-league infielder Phil Nevin will interview for the job. Nevin has spent the last six years managing in the minor leagues, including the last two in the Diamondbacks’ organization with Triple-A Reno.

Nightengale calls Nevin, who has already interviewed with the Nationals and Marlins, the “hottest managerial candidate in MLB.” His minor-league experience is significant and he could bring an interesting mix of old-school and new-school as he was known as one of the more intense, hard-nosed players during his career.

Notes

• The Arizona Fall League started play Tuesday. Left-hander James Paxton is scheduled to start for the Peoria Javelinas on Wednesday.

• Reliever Tony Zych, who was originally slated to play in the Arizona Fall League, has been replaced on the Javelinas’ roster by pitcher Ryan Horstman. Zych was replaced because the Mariners felt he had thrown enough innings this season.

• For your offseason roster planning: The qualifying offer has been set at $15.8 million, up $500,000 from last year.