Schilling has his surgery

Curt Schilling could be throwing off a mound by January after having shoulder surgery Monday that keeps him on target to pitch by the middle of next season if he decides to return.

The Boston Red Sox’s former ace had his right biceps tendon and labrum repaired and there was no meaningful rotator cuff problem as feared, Dr. Craig Morgan said.

“This really is a best-case scenario,” Morgan said.

Schilling, who hasn’t pitched this season, decided last week to have the operation after the rehabilitation the team preferred didn’t relieve the pain he felt when throwing from a mound at far below maximum effort.

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New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon praised Willie Randolph’s performance as manager, even though he agreed with General Manager Omar Minaya’s decision to fire him last week.

“I think Willie did a good job. I think that the results the last, say, 14 months were not up to what we thought it had to be,” Wilpon said.

“What Omar finally decided was that he had to make that change.”

Wilpon rejected criticism that the Mets were unfair to Randolph because of the timing of the announcement, which came just after 3 a.m. EDT.

“The intent here clearly was to respect Willie, to respect his feelings and to do it in person,” Wilpon said. “It’s never easy to fire anybody. Believe me, it is not easy to do, and Omar took a lot of time. We took a lot of time listening to him and thinking about it.”

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Washington Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson will undergo surgery today on his injured right wrist and might not return this season.

Johnson has been on the disabled list since May 15 because of a tear in the tendon sheath of his right wrist.

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Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Ian Snell could miss his scheduled start Friday against Tampa Bay but appears to have avoided a serious injury.

Snell’s underwent tests on his sore pitching elbow to determine whether he had ligament damage, and was told by team doctors he has golfer’s elbow -- the overuse of an elbow muscle.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks activated outfielder Eric Byrnes from the 15-day disabled list and optioned outfielder Alex Romero to triple-A Tucson. . . . Reliever Joel Peralta was recalled by the Kansas City Royals, who sent right-hander Jeff Fulchino to triple-A Omaha.