I cannot believe it! The reason is so simple and all the experts don't want to take notice it seems. Lidge is injured! Look at this stuff they attached to his shoe in order to keep his knee in place. It is more than obvious that he cannot pitch through this injury and the only reasonable solution is to get knee surgery.
Name another baseball player who has gone from elite, to replacement-level, back to elite, back to replacement level. I can't think of any.
Would be sick if he rises to prominence again next year, starting (that's right I said starting) 35 games, going 21-9 with 266 Ks and a 3.23 ERA, only to post a 6.46 ERA in 2011 (in triple-A), before finally killing himself in a grease fire.