Matt LaPorta injury: Indians first baseman has hip surgery, will be out 3-4 months

The Cleveland Indians recently announced that slugger Matt LaPorta underwent a left hip arthroscopy and that he will be out for 3-4 months as part of his recovery process. Hip surgery might be the least of LaPorta's problems heading into the 2013 season, because he has reached a do-or-die point with the Indians, as general manager Chris Antonetti explained to MLB.com at the end of the regular season:

"He's out of options going into next year. So he'll either have to be on a Major League team somewhere or he'd have to go through waivers before he could be sent back to the Minor Leagues."

"I've talked with Matt. It's obviously an important offseason for him, because he's going to have to come into Spring Training to win a job."

The left hip has been a trouble area for LaPorta for quite some time. This recent procedure is actually the second operation on his it, as he also underwent an arthroscopic left hip procedure back in October of 2009.

The 27-year-old slugger was drafted in the first round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and then traded to the Indians in 2008 as a part of the CC Sabathia deal. LaPorta appeared in just 22 games for Cleveland in 2012, posting a .241/.267/.328 batting line over 60 plate appearances.