Oakland Athletics’ A.J. Puk and Matt Chapman set for season-ending surgery

Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman and left-handed prospect A.J. Puk are both set to undergo season-ending surgery next week, according to the team.

Chapman is set for surgery Monday after getting another opinion on his right hip tendinitis.

The 27-year-old Chapman, a back-to-back Gold Glove winner at third and an All-Star in 2019, was hitting .232 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs this season.

Puk is set to undergo surgery Wednesday on his pitching shoulder. He hasn’t pitched this season because of inflammation in the shoulder that required injections. He underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in 2018.

Hall of Fame case closed? These baseball legacies could suffer if MLB’s season is canceled

The 2020 Major League Baseball season is delayed, indefinitely, and it’s not at all certain to ever begin. It’s not clear when the country will be able to lift measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, or how baseball could fit into the much larger puzzle of society this year.

With the season in question, there also come (less important, but nonetheless interesting) questions about how the history of the sport will reckon with the shortened slate or potential gap in action. Such as: Who in the game right now might eventually have their Hall of Fame case altered by the pandemic-stricken 2020 season?

There have been strikes, and players have left for military service, but missing games are missing games, and they will affect some more directly than others when legacies coalesce years down the line. With that in mind, the Yahoo Sports staff got together and explained why these Cooperstown hopefuls have the most riding on 2020. - Zach Crizer

A list that may be of interest to compare with the ones of Jay Jaffe’s I’ve linked to in the last few days.