The 2013 Home Run Derby participants have been announced - MLB

Just announced on ESPN’s SportsCenter, here are the participants for the 2013 Home Run Derby, which will take place next Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Citi Field in New York. Keep in mind that all of the players selected were also chosen for the All-Star Game. So there’s no Giancarlo Stanton here. Oh well.

National League

David Wright (NL Captain) – Wright is the captain for the National League side this year, as his team is hosting this year’s Midsummer Classic. The 30-year-old third baseman is quietly in the middle of one of his most productive seasons, hitting .306/.394/.519 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 85 games.

Carlos Gonzalez – An easy choice for Wright, as Gonzalez currently leads the National League with 24 home runs. It’s worth noting that he’s out of the lineup tonight after leaving yesterday’s game with a sprained right middle finger, so this is assuming his health cooperates.

Michael Cuddyer – A bit of a swerve on Wright’s part, as some may have expected to see someone like the Phillies’ Domonic Brown here. However, Wright picked someone who he has a long history with dating back to AAU ball in Virginia. To his credit, Cuddyer is having a fine season with the Rockies, batting .337/.392/.583 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI in 68 games.

Bryce Harper – This is going to be a real treat, as few players in the game have more raw power than the 20-year-old phenom. He has launched 35 home runs in 190 career games. Only four players (Mel Ott, Tony Conigliaro, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Mickey Mantle) have had more before turning 21 years old.

American League

Robinson Cano (AL Captain) – Appropriately enough, Cano is the captain once again for the American League side. The 30-year-old has 20 home runs in 88 games this season and has reached at least 28 home runs in each of the past three seasons.

Prince Fielder – A no-brainer for Cano, as Fielder is the defending champion from last year’s Home Run Derby in Kansas City. The 29-year-old first baseman has 15 home runs in 87 games this season and has hit at least 28 in each of his full seasons in the majors.

Chris Davis – The man everybody wants to see. With a swing that almost looks effortless, Davis currently leads the majors with 33 home runs. The leading vote getter for this year’s All-Star Game, he has the most home runs by anyone before the All-Star break since Barry Bonds back in 2001.

TBA – Cano is still deciding on who his final pick will be, with an announcement expected tomorrow. For now, let your imaginations run wild with the possibilities. Here’s hoping for Brett Cecil.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers signed Jacob deGrom to a $185 million, five-year deal in free agency last winter hoping the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner could help them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and make a push toward winning a World Series.

They also knew the risks, with the pitcher coming off two injury-plagued seasons with the New York Mets.

Even with deGrom sidelined since late April, the AL West-leading Rangers are off to the best start in franchise history – but now will be without their prized acquisition until at least next year. The team said Tuesday that deGrom will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

“We’ve got a special group here and to not be able to be out there and help them win, that stinks,” deGrom said, pausing several times with tears in his eyes. “Wanting to be out there and helping the team, it’s a disappointment.”

General manager Chris Young said Tuesday the decision on surgery came after an MRI on deGrom’s ailing right elbow, but the extent of what is required might not be determined until the operation is performed next week.

Tommy John surgery, in which the damaged ligament is replaced, is often needed to fix a torn UCL, but Young and the Rangers didn’t go as far as saying the pitcher would have that particular procedure. After being drafted by the New York Mets in 2010, deGrom made six starts in the minors that summer before needing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2011, three years before his big league debut.

DeGrom last pitched April 28 against the New York Yankees, when he exited early because of injury concerns for the second time in a span of three starts. The announcement about surgery came a day after deGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Young said the latest MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage in the ligament that wasn’t there on the scan after deGrom left the game against the Yankees.

“The results of that MRI show that we have not made progress. And in fact, we’ve identified some damage to the ligament,” Young said. “It’s obviously a tough blow for Jacob, for certainly the Rangers. But we do feel this is what is right for Jacob in his career. We’re confident he’ll make a full recovery.”

Young and deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, said the goal is for the pitcher to return near the end of next season. Both said they were glad to have clarity on what was wrong with the elbow.

Texas won all six games started by deGrom (2-0), but the right-hander threw only 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start before leaving because of discomfort in his arm.

The Rangers went into Tuesday night’s game against St. Louis with a 39-20 record, the first time they were 19 games over .500 since the end of 2016, their last winning season.

Before going home to Florida over the weekend for the birth of his third child, deGrom threw his fifth bullpen last Wednesday in Detroit.

“I’d have days where I’d feel really good, days where I didn’t feel great. So I was kind of riding a roller coaster there for a little bit,” deGrom said. “They said originally there, we just saw some inflammation. … Getting an MRI right after you pitch, I feel like anybody would have inflammation. So, you know, I was hoping that that would get out of there and I would be fine. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

DeGrom spent his first nine big league seasons with the Mets, but was limited by injuries to 156 1/3 innings over 26 starts during his last two years in New York.

He had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings in 2021 before missing the final three months of the season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow.

The four-time All-Star didn’t make his first big league start last year until Aug. 2 after being shut down late in spring training because of a stress reaction in his right scapula.

His latest injury almost surely will trigger Texas’ conditional option on deGrom’s contract for 2028.

The option takes effect if deGrom has Tommy John surgery on his right elbow from 2023-26 or has any right elbow or shoulder injury that causes him to be on the IL for any period of 130 consecutive days during any season or 186 days in a row during any service period.

The conditional option would be for $20 million, $30 million or $37 million, depending on deGrom’s performance during the contract and health following the 2027 season.

“I feel bad for Jake. If I know Jake, he’ll have the surgery and come back and finish his career strong,” second-year Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “I know how much it means to him. He enjoys pitching. It’s certainly sad news for all of us.”