MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins reliever Pat Neshek will have ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow and is expected to miss next season.

The right-hander re-injured his elbow last week during a throwing session at the team's facility in Florida. He had an MRI exam Tuesday, which revealed a complete tear of his ulnar collateral ligament. The procedure could take place next week.

After a standout season in 2007 as Minnesota's primary setup man, Neshek sustained a partial tear of the ligament during a game in May. The Twins recommended rest and rehabilitation rather than surgery at the time. Neshek said last month his recovery was on track and he'd be ready for spring training.

Without him, Minnesota's bullpen struggled this year. Neshek finished 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA in 15 games.

In 121 career appearances, he has a 2.91 ERA and 142 strikeouts over 120 2-3 innings with a .188 opponents' batting average.

"It's disappointing, because he had made so much progress throughout the summer and fall," general manager Bill Smith said. "We just have to shift our focus to opening day of 2010."

Recovery from Tommy John surgery, as the procedure is commonly called, typically takes at least a year. That makes the addition of another reliever or two this winter more important, though Smith downplayed an offseason priority shift in light of losing Neshek.

"It doesn't change our approach because we were looking to see if we could add to the bullpen already," Smith said. "We need to continue to try and strengthen that bullpen. We've got some in-house candidates, and we'll also look at trading and free agents."