by ANTHONY WITRADO, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

And by the time he finished an interview with reporters, it still was unclear what the Milwaukee Brewers third baseman would do in regards to the ailing right knee that has hobbled him for at least half the season.

McGehee flew ahead of his teammates to meet with knee specialist Richard Steadman in Vail, Colo., on Monday for a second opinion. But that opinion was the same as the first.

Surgery.

Steadman recommended an arthroscopic procedure to remove "floating pieces of cartilage" in McGehee's knee, and the Brewers announced Tuesday that McGehee would have the surgery. However, McGehee isn't set on going under the knife just yet.

"I pretty much knew what I was going to hear for the most part," McGehee said Tuesday. "I was just hoping maybe he had some alternatives that hadn't been thought of or saw something different. He pretty much said what I thought he was going to say.

"I haven't 100% decided in my mind what I'm going to do. I'm leaning toward getting it cleaned up, but I haven't committed to that idea."

It remains highly likely that McGehee will have the surgery and it will be performed by team physician William Raasch soon after the season ends Sunday. But it could be that McGehee may elect to have a more extensive procedure to possibly prevent any further knee damage later.

"It's just getting it cleaned up, (is) that going to be sufficient enough to take care of the problem," McGehee said. "I don't know. I want to make sure it's something that doesn't come back to bite me at a later date. I'm just being cautious about it, trying to make sure I do the right thing to take care of it."

McGehee then said he is "tempted not to do anything." He wouldn't elaborate, but he said he wants to make his decision "sooner rather than later" because his goal is to be ready to go by spring training.

Despite the discomfort that is obvious when McGehee is on the field and sometimes when he walks around the clubhouse, he has become a rookie of the year candidate. McGehee, who started just once in the team's first 38 games, is hitting .303 with 15 home runs and 65 RBI in 112 games.

"And if he's healthy you'll see a different defender out there," manager Ken Macha said. "He spends a lot of time in the training room just getting ready to play, both pre and post(game). That takes its toll on a person."

Better news for DiFelice: There won't be any surgery for reliever Mark DiFelice at this point.

The right-hander flew to Los Angeles and met with specialist Lewis Yocum on Monday, and Yocum concurred with Raasch that DiFelice should continue conservative rehabilitation on his right shoulder.

DiFelice was put on the 60-day disabled list Sept. 15 with a shoulder strain, but progress has been slow and DiFelice sought a second opinion.

There is a slight labrum tear in DiFelice's shoulder, but both doctors told DiFelice he has a fairly normal shoulder for a 33-year-old pitcher and that the tear just has to be maintained and the shoulder strengthened.

DiFelice will rehabilitate during the winter at a facility in Philadelphia where he recovered from his first surgery on the shoulder in 2001 and did the same after having micro-fracture surgery on his knee in 2007.

The confirmation for rehab was good news for DiFelice.

"I'm anti-surgery right now," he said. "I'm a quick healer, but I just don't want to go through it. They keep testing me out and (Yocum) said my strength is really good all-around."

Bush bounce back? Despite not pitching well consistently, if at all, since June 4 when he suffered a micro-tear in his right triceps, right-hander Dave Bush is scheduled to make his next start Saturday in St. Louis.

Since being struck by a liner on his pitching arm, Bush is 2-8, including that start, with a 9.06 ERA in 11 starts. His latest came Sunday when he lasted just 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on nine hits.

But Bush checked out healthy on his exit physical and will make his last start, partly because right-hander Mike Burns is out with labrum pathology in his right shoulder and the team sent right-hander Josh Butler out to prepare for the Arizona Fall League.

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