BYE BYE BIRDIE
Yanks’ 1B in waiting lost for season due to shoulder surgery
Greg Bird, likely successor to Mark Teixeira and Yanks’ fallback in case of injury, will miss 2016 season due to right shoulder surgery.
THE YANKEES got a glimpse of their promising future last year as Greg Bird and Luis Severino shined during the final two months of the season.
Severino is still expected to be a big part of the upcoming season, but the Bombers won’t get another look at Bird until 2017.
The first baseman will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, a procedure the club said will knock him out for the entire 2016 campaign. Dr. David Altchek will perform the operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
Bird’s shoulder had been an issue for him since last May, when he was first diagnosed with a tear in the labrum.
He performed well after returning from the initial injury, moving from Double-A to Triple-A to the majors.
According to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Bird didn’t mention the shoulder issue during his end-of-season physical, but agent Jim Murray informed the club about a week later that the shoulder was still bothering Bird. Both Yankees team physician Chris Ahmad and Altchek examined him in October, recommending a strengthening and rehab program in lieu of surgery.
Bird was already in Tampa working out in preparation for spring training when Murray called Cashman about 10 days ago to tell him the first baseman was still experiencing discomfort. A followup visit to Ahmad showed “changes” to the MRI and a recommendation of surgery. Bird saw Altchek Monday for a second opinion and it was decided he would undergo surgery.
“It’s just not getting better,” Cashman said.
Bird hit .261/.343/.529 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI in 46 games after being called up in mid-August, making the Yankees look pretty smart for holding on to him at the trade deadline.
The Yankees are confident that Bird will be back at full strength next season, and given Cashman’s assertion all winter that the 23-year-old was ticketed for Triple-A this year, the injury may not affect the team’s chances much at all.
That, of course, assumes that Mark Teixeira can stay healthy for a full season, something the soonto-be 36-year-old hasn’t done since 2011.
Teixeira was having an All-Star season last year, hitting 31 home runs with 79 RBI and a .912 OPS in 109 games before he broke his leg on a foul ball.
Cashman said the reports on Teixeira since the end of the season have been good and he is expected to have no restrictions when players report to Tampa later this month.
Dustin Ackley had been penciled in as Teixeira’s primary backup for 2016, something that won’t change with the Bird news. Ackley – who has played a total of 22 games at first base during his career – should remain in the backup spot, though a major injury to Teixeira could force the Yankees to seek a better option at the position.
“We’ll explore opportunities for Triple-A,” Cashman said. “Dustin Ackley is the backup first baseman on the big-league level and we’ll explore replacing Bird for Scranton.
“Ackley has a lot of upside; potentially his best years are ahead of him. We’ll see how his spring plays out and how he looks.”
Bird’s injury has another ramification for the Yankees than just him sitting out 2016; he’ll spend the entire season on the 60-day disabled list, giving him a full season of service time to put him on the freeagent track one year earlier than he might have been otherwise. JIM Harbaugh has snagged headlines ever since he took over the Michigan football program and now he’s snagged some stars, too.
Derek Jeter, who grew up in Michigan, and Tom Brady, who started two seasons for the Wolverines, are set to attend the school’s “Signing of the Stars” party Wednesday on campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Other announced guests include wrestler Ric Flair, Rangers pitcher Derek Holland, former NFL coach Mike Shanahan, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, country singer Josh Gracin, former college coach and analyst Lou Holtz, rapper Migos, former Tigers manager Jim Leyland, as well as former Wolverines Jon Jansen, Desmond Howard and Denard Robinson.
Harbaugh, who was introduced as the school’s football coach at the end of 2014, created the invite-only event that is similar to other buzz-worthy stunts the former Niners coach has used during recruiting. It will be live-streamed on Jeter’s website, The Players’ Tribune, and be used to raise money to help fight childhood cancer in memory of Chad Carr ,the 5-year-old grandson of ex-Michigan coach Lloyd Carr who died of brain cancer.
— Amara Grautski