Facts:
Who pays for Tommy John surgery in MLB?:
Bridget Winters, Bachelor’s Degree Operations and Supply Chain Management, Cleveland State University (2018)
Answered June 4, 2018
I used to work for the Cleveland Indians and usually the insurance they have for the players covers most of it and whatever that doesn’t cover, the team does.
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What type of medical coverage do MLB teams carry?
John Finn, Research Expert and Statistician at Self-Employment (1990-present)
Answered February 7, 2019
Full coverage by their teams. This goes for injuries/ailments that are not sports related too... because in reality, all injuries/ailments effect how they play sports. Jon Lester had to deal with Cancer and Ryan Westmoreland had to deal with a malformation in his brain. They were covered by the Red Sox. Sadly, Westmoreland never made it to the big leagues.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2016/09/09/worried-about-your-aces-100-million-arm-there-is-insurance-for-that/
(This is insuring the entire contract, not just TJ).