Elbow surgery claims A's Jarrod Parker

Athletics RHP Jarrod Parker is scheduled to undergo surgery on his right elbow today, the team announced. The specifics of the surgery are unknown, but Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Cronicle noted that it will not require a another UCL replacement.

Parker was beginning his rehab process from his second Tommy John surgery when he suffered a gruesome injury, and was diagnosed with a fractured medial epicondyle. The former ninth overall pick hasn't thrown a pitch in the big leagues since 2013, but is still just 26 years old. He's under team control through arbitration for the next two seasons, and could potentially still help the team once healthy.

But that's a situation to worry about for the 2016 season. Right now, the A's are in the midst of trying to win during the summer of 2015, and not having a healthy Parker return from injury is unfortunate.

However as of right now, their current rotation is doing just fine. Youngsters like Sonny Gray, Drew Pomeranz and Jesse Hahn are leading the charge, while they have two veteran starters in Scott Kazmir and Jesse Chavez to help stabilize the rotation.

At 14-26, the A's need to turn things around quickly. If they're in contention by late June and early July, they'll have some tough decisions to make. Kazmir is generating interest, and has already been linked to the Kansas City Royals. If the A's have true intentions of competing for the division, Billy Beane can't part with him. However, should their record continue to worsen, then the decision may become relatively easy.

Parker's timeline isn't known yet, and may not be for some time. The A's are likely going to be extremely careful with him and do their best to prevent something like this from happening again.