HOUSTON | Royals outfielder Coco Crisp will undergo season-ending surgery today after an examination Monday confirmed his sore right shoulder to be the result of a torn labrum.</p><p> &ldquo;Obviously, that&rsquo;s not what we were looking for,&rdquo; manager Trey Hillman said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s something that needs to be done. We&rsquo;ll go ahead and take care of that now.&rdquo;</p><p> Dr. James Andrews, a shoulder specialist, confirmed the tear Monday in Birmingham, Ala., and will perform the surgery at 11 this morning. The typical recovery period for a torn labrum is four to six months.</p><p> Crisp, 29, hasn&rsquo;t played since June 12 but began experiencing shoulder pain in April. The pain increased sharply in early May, which roughly correlates to his sharp drop in productivity.</p><p> &ldquo;We went back and looked at the injury reports to see (when he reported) the irritation,&rdquo; Hillman said. &ldquo;He really had only about 10 fully healthy games with his shoulder this year. It&rsquo;s a pretty big blow.</p><p> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing to me that his on-base percentage was as good as it was for the length of time that it was, considering the fact that his shoulder was bothering him.&rdquo;</p><p> The Royals acquired Crisp in an offseason trade with Boston for reliever Ram&oacute;n Ramirez. Their hope was he could solidify their outfield defense and provide a veteran spark atop their lineup.</p><p> Crisp&rsquo;s speed enabled the Royals to shift David DeJesus from center to left and helped limit the liability of Jos&eacute; Guillen&rsquo;s declining range in right field. </p><p> Initial returns were encouraging.</p><p> Crisp provided the expected defensive upgrade and batted .261 with a .382 on-base percentage in 32 games through May 12 before increasing pain took its toll.</p><p> His production dropped to .164 and .239 over his next 17 games prior to being placed on the disabled list. Crisp&rsquo;s decline roughly correlated with the Royals&rsquo; collapse after an 18-11 start. They have just 12 victories in their last 40 games.</p><p> &ldquo;When you lose someone like that,&rdquo; Hillman said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s tough to replace. We tried to protect it, and we rested him a couple of times, but it&rsquo;s just one of those things that needs to be repaired. &ldquo;</p><p> The injury also poses a major question for the Royals in determining whether to pick up his $8 million option for next season. They can choose to buy their way out of the option for $500,000 and allow Crisp to become a free agent.