OAKLAND -- Mike Mussina's right elbow is a huge question mark as the Yankees enter the final month of the season, as the pitcher said Friday that there is a possibility he could miss the remainder of the year.

On Friday, Mussina visited Dr. Lewis Yocum, a noted Los Angeles orthopedist who also serves as the Angels' medical director. Mussina had an MRI and X-rays taken, and Yocum diagnosed him with tendinitis in the elbow.

"It's nothing too bad, but I need some time to let it calm down before I go out there and try to do anything else," Mussina said. "I think, based on the way he was talking, that it's going to be longer than a couple of days. We'll just keep doing what we're doing, and hopefully it will get better."

"He's the first concern. Without him feeling well enough to go out there and pitch on a regular basis, it's not going to help the team," said manager Joe Torre. "It's strictly up to Mike; when his elbow starts feeling well enough to do some things, we'll go from there. It's going to be a little bit, whether that's five days, a week, 10 days or two weeks."

Mussina was already scheduled to miss his start on Saturday because of the injury, but he will now miss his next start, and there is no timetable for his return.

He won't even pick up a ball until the irritation is gone altogether, and he thinks he will need 7-10 days to get ready for a start once he resumes throwing.

"We have four weeks left after this weekend, but I can't say for sure when it's going to be," Mussina said. "I'm not discouraged. ... This is one of those situations you have to deal with. I'll get back out there as soon as possible, but I'm not going to risk anything long-term by rushing myself and doing something I shouldn't be doing."

Mussina is 12-8 with a 4.34 ERA in 28 starts this season, though he had been the Yankees' most consistent starter until Aug. 24, when he allowed eight runs in just 4 1/3 innings against Toronto. In his start on Monday in Seattle, Mussina lasted just three innings, and his elbow condition was revealed the next day.

"I've been throwing with this for a while," Mussina said, admitting that there was a chance he would miss the remainder of the season. "I don't think there's a significant amount of concern. It's a possibility, I guess, but there's not a significant amount of concern."

"I can't think that way, because it doesn't do me any good," said Torre of Mussina missing the rest of the season. "I'm going to take it a day at a time, and hopefully he'll recover and feel well enough to do something."

Mussina didn't appear to be overly concerned about the injury earlier in the week, but after meeting with Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, he decided to fly to L.A. on Friday morning to get checked out by Yocum.

"You want to be out there pitching," Mussina said. "When it got to the point that it was bothering me, it was time to take it seriously, and realize that you might be seriously hurting yourself."