News came out of the Yankee's camp late this afternoon announcing that Greg Bird tore his right labrum in his shoulder.
This comes as a huge disappointment after the potential Bird flaunted last summer. While Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Bird was to start the season at Triple-A, its no secret that Mark Teixeira has been extremely injury prone. Sources say that Greg Bird will miss the entire 2016 season but I would not be surprised if he's ready to go by late-August for what is hopefully a playoff push. Seeing a young guy miss this big chunk of time sucks because he's in the middle of his development.
So how is Girardi going to change his gameplan with the young stud out?
Luckily, the Yankees have a much deeper and more talented team this season than they did a year ago. If something were to happen to Tex, who belted 31 homers before enduring a season-ending injury, you could see guys like McCann or A-Rod at first. Trading JR Murphy in December allowed number 2 catching prospect Gary Sanchez to get the nod as the backup. With McCann aging, it may be beneficial to get him reps at first base as it is. Now hopefully Tex stays injury-free so the Yanks don't have this issue, but I think they'd be able to move some parts around to make it work.
The fact of the matter is that not many teams, if any, stay injury-free for an entire season. The additions of Starlin Castro, Aaron Hicks, and Aroldis Chapman add depth and talent to what was a mediocre roster in 2015. With Bird injured, we could see the highly spoken Aaron Judge come up at some point this summer as well. If you didn't already know, the kid is an absolute freak. 6'8 with a swing that could compare to Giancarlo Stanton's.
Overall, the loss of Bird is disappointing given that spring training hasn't started yet. However, I think the Yankees have a good enough team and farm system to step up for his absence. And hey, it's the last year of Tex's deal so the timing should be perfect to have him back for 2017 with a boatload of cash to spend.
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