BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Valera Will Be Sidelined for Season

Pitcher Julio Valera will undergo exploratory surgery on his right elbow on a yet to be determined date and will sit out the rest of the season, Angel trainer Ned Bergert said. Valera, on the disabled list since June 24, had an MRI exam on Monday, revealing ligament damage. The extent of the injury will not be known until Lewis Yocum performs the surgery. Yocum will wait until after Valera’s wife, Zoraida, delivers the couple’s second child.

“I felt good the first four to five weeks, then it started bothering me again,” Valera said. “I think this is the best way to get rid of it.

“I’m a little scared. John Farrell had the same surgery. I know it takes a lot of time. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I know I’m going to come back.”

Valera might be sidelined as long as 18 months.

“It’s the ulna colateral ligament, the Tommy John ligament,” Bergert said. “Repairs don’t hold up to the test of time. (Yocum) will start exploring it to see how disrupted it is.”

He did not rule out ligament replacement surgery similar to the one made famous by John.

Valera, who has been troubled by soreness in his elbow since spring training, is 3-6 with a 6.62 earned-run average in 19 games, including five starts.

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Reliever Joe Grahe, on the disabled list because of tendinitis in his shoulder, threw on the sidelines Tuesday and will throw again today. The Angels won’t activate Grahe until he is pain-free, Manager Buck Rodgers said. Grahe probably will be sent to Vancouver for a brief rehabilitation assignment this weekend. . . . J.T. Snow, who left Friday’s game at Minnesota because of a pulled quadriceps muscle, returned to the lineup Tuesday. . . . Since opening the season with a 13-5 record, the Angels have gone 24-31--and lost only 4 1/2 games in the standings. . . . Oakland’s Dave Henderson came off the 15-day disabled list and was the Athletics’ designated hitter Tuesday.