Yankees first baseman Greg Bird missed most of last season with a right ankle injury. The 25-year-old is now battling soreness in the same foot and will go for an MRI and a CT scan, per Randy Miller of NJ.com. Bird’s status concerns general manager Brian Cashman, who said Saturday: “I’m worried about it to be honest. I’m not sure what we’re dealing with, but when Greg can’t tee it up, it’s a problem for us because obviously he’s a vital member of our organization.” Cashman went on to indicate that the Yankees won’t attempt to replace Bird via trade if he lands on the shelf. The recently signed Neil Walker and Tyler Austin are among the Yankees’ in-house first base options, but it’s worth noting that they recently had Adam Lind in camp. The club signed Lind to a minor league pact in early March before releasing him midway through the month. Lind remains on the market and would make for a logical pickup on paper, but there’s no word on whether New York is interested in re-signing him in the event of another serious injury to Bird.
[Update: The Yankees announced that Bird is dealing with inflammation and will see a specialist Monday.]
More from the East Coast…
- Right-hander Seth Lugo has won the fifth spot in the Mets’ rotation, meaning fellow righty Zack Wheeler will head to Triple-A Las Vegas, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to report. Lugo will fill in for injured southpaw Jason Vargas, who will open the season on the disabled list after suffering a fracture to his non-throwing hand last week, behind Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz. Vargas could return as early as April 9, DiComo notes, and Lugo is likely to head to the bullpen then.
- Righty A.J. Cole will begin the season as the Nationals’ fifth starter, manager Dave Martinez announced Sunday (via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). That’s not surprising, as fellow righty Jeremy Hellickson isn’t adequately stretched out yet after recently signing with the Nats on a minor league deal. Cole will join Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark in Washington’s season-opening rotation.
- Outfielder Craig Gentry is likely to make the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggested (on Twitter) after they optioned outfield prospect Austin Hays to Double-A on Saturday. Gentry, 34, is in his second year with the franchise; he re-signed on a minor league contract in the offseason after slashing .257/.333/.386 in 117 major league PAs in 2017.
Odds of Giants trading for Wheeler?
Zero, they need someone experienced ready to step in and have a shot to hold things down for a couple months. Kazmir makes sense to me.
Aren’t the giants up at the tax and Kair has a high salary?
Kazmir*
Past salary stays on the Braves books. Giants would only have to pay him the league minimum.
Big Sexy, come on down.
My guess is Austin gets the call if Bird is going to miss time. They do as the piece suggest have Walker who could slide over to 1B, Have Wade 2B and Torreyes as the utility infielder. Also just recently returned Rule 5 pick Mike Ford could also be an option 1B is his natural position and he is a lefty like Bird.
Billy McKinney has been playing first and has had a good Spring. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out bad for Bird,but if so McKinney is the much preferred option to Ford. That’s if they don’t add Lind back into the Mix.
Why do you feel that McKinney is a better replacement over Ford? Neither has proved themselves beyond AAA. Ford has had a much better track record in the high minors (AA/AAA). And Ford has had a much better spring training. I’m all for either getting a chance (including Tyler Austin) butI feel like Ford has proven himself over the years and has been overlooked. At some point when do you prioritize performance vs prospect hype with less stellar production?
McKinney is way more versatile with the glove,more speed and base running ability. He is also 2 1/2 years younger,is coming into his power,and management feels really strong about him. There’s evidently a reason they let Ford get claimed and not protect him.
The Yankees have plenty of young player other than McKinney that can play multiple position. McKinney hasn’t played much !B and 1B in Ford natural position. Defensively Ford is a much better option for 1B. For the record it’s not like Ford is an old man he’s just 25 the same age as Bird and a year younger than Austin. I like McKinney but in this situation of the 2 Ford strikes me as the better option.
We’re looking for a 1B not a multi-position player. McKinney has NEVER played a regular season game at 1B other than the 11 games he played at 1b in the Arizona league in 2017. 1B is Ford’s natural position. He’s only 25 and the Yanks are looking for a replacement for Bird not a player for the next decade.
McKinney is on the 40 man and Ford isn’t. That may be the difference.
That could make a difference. But if the difference is being on the 40 man roster then Austin will probably be the Yankees 1st choice. For the record I don’t necessarily think McKinney’s spot on the 40 man roster is that secure.
Let’s all just wait and see the severity of Birds injury. If for any reason he starts the season on the DL they will probably give Lind a call.
Bird has a difficulty migrating north.
Lmaoo good one
Lol nice
You have won the comments section for the day.
Great job.
No real reason to sign Lind, even if Bird is hurt long term. Walker is younger and has just as good a track record from the left side. And Tyler Austin would platoon against either of those two, from the right side.
So, with the Yankees loaded at second and third base (the other two positions Walker plays), it makes perfect sense to just rely on him as a lefty power bat at first, rather than waste money on Lind (the Yanks are operating on a limited budget this year).
Yanks have ample salary space to add Lind but it’s weird to hear the Yankees have limited budget.
Stanton’s mega contract just makes getting/staying under the luxury tax a little harder but it was a deal that basically fell into their laps, that they couldn’t refuse.
There’s a reason it fell into their laps, it’s way too risky to pay that much money to such an injury prone player. 8 years in the league and he has only 3 full seasons played. It seemed his injuries always came when the Marlins were in a playoff pursuit. When the team most needed him.
“There’s a reason it fell into their laps”
J E T E R
Yes, he fell into the Yankee’s lap. Stanton only wanted to go to the Yankees, and the Marlins couldn’t afford him. What was Jeter supposed to do? He got the best he could from them, and he’s lucky he even got that much because of the circumstances.
Stanton had 4 teams he was willing to go to. Astros, Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees. Only one of those teams were willing to take on his contract.
Greg Bird is hurt? I am shocked!
If this keeps up, he might get signed to the NFL as Bradford’s backup…
He should move across town and join the Mets…
Whether or not the Yankees were confident in Bird heading into the offseason, I’m surprised there wasn’t even a whisper about the possibility of moving Giancarlo Stanton (back) to first base, since he was drafted out of high school as a first baseman. Even on a part-time basis (or rotating between OF, 1B, and DH), it would have opened up more possibilities in the outfield, and Bird is still not a sure thing.
Are you talking about Giancarlo? I think you mean Mike Stanton used to play first.
Giancarlo Stanton is Mike Stanton
““I’m worried about it to be honest. I’m not sure what we’re dealing with…”
Nick Johnson
It’s Déjà vu all over again.
It’s been a while yanks got a home grown first baseman. Where are the Mattingy and Balbonis???
Instead of hiring Boone they should have gotten Don Mattingly as a player manager
He is totally Nick Johnson all over again… I mean can it be more obvious
On a scale of 1-10, how serious is a foot inflammation? Are we seeing a couple days rest here or is his foot gone forever Aaron Hernandez?
not sure but I’m thinking mayyyyybe you should be punched in the nose.
Send your tears to your local Goodwill.
Btw, Im making reference to a Kent Murphy video you sensitive baby.
Kent Murphy!!! Finally, a person that actually understands the game. Lol
Remember, never bunt!
So, Degrom, Synderguard, Harvey, Matz, and Lugo might be a formable staff. Considering they had a staff era+ of 85 last season, it would be something if they could lift that to 110. Has any team ever lifted its era+ 25 points in a single season?
April is blissful. By June reality of the staff’s health becomes apparent. Then it’s a matter of adjusting.
Yankees just got Mike Ford back. They could use him.
Call Jeets, Bour is available!
As a Sox fan, I still wish Bird good luck. You gotta love that swing. If he could stay healthy I envision him having a great year.