The Yankees announced today that outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has undergone surgery to repair the labrum of his left hip. He’s expected to require six months of recovery time.
Ellsbury’s season is now over before it ever began. The 34-year-old has been on the disabled list all year with a dizzying array of injuries. He did not appear in game action at any level.
The veteran outfielder joined the Yankees on a monster seven-year, $153MM contract that has not turned out as hoped. It runs through 2020 and also includes a $5MM buyout on a $21MM option for an additional season. It is not clear whether or to what extent the Yanks insured the contract.
Ellsbury has fallen far short of expectations in the Bronx. He was a 3.5 fWAR performer in his first season, but hasn’t even reached 2 fWAR in any of the three ensuing seasons. Though Ellsbury has certainly been worthy of a roster spot, and has produced useful numbers against right-handed pitching, the overall production is nothing close to what the Yanks have paid for.
Ok..
Get well soon Jacoby, we miss you and need you!
No we don’t
Yes we do, I’d much rather have him than Voit and Robinson.
No we don’t (relieved Sox fan, glad they let him walk- we signed Carl Crawford for 7 years instead… yikes !!)
How did the Sox sign Crawford instead of Ellsbury? Crawford was signed before the 2011 season to play LF in Boston. He was traded to LA in 2012. The Sox were on the hook for 12 mil or none of his big contract, depending on whether you say the $ sent to LA it went to CC’s deal or AGon’s. Ellsbury was the CF’er in Boston through 2013. They replaced him with a cheap rookie contract guy in Jackie Bradley Jr. I get that giving him the cash the Yankees did was stupid. But Boston SHOULD have been giving the Ellsbury saving to Jon Lester and instead gave it to Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Crawford had nothing to do with it.
No we don’t.
“ . . . we . . . need you!”
For what, ballast?
Gee why can’t the Red Sox get guys like that?
Castillo, Sandavol and H. Ramirez don’t count?
Carl Crawford 7 years.
Crawford and that contract were traded to the Dodgers in its second year… they assumed the entire remaining amount owed.. along with Adrian Gonzalez Josh Beckett and my memory fails me on the other player included
Wasn’t it Nick Punto ?
Hanley doesn’t. Should sub Crawford for him.
We’ve had our share. Fenway Fats is playing for SF or was playing until he was recently DL’d on the Sox dime.
Any team giving out big contracts will get burned
Bro, Fenway Fats….. that’s funny. Both teams have had trash contracts. Carl Crawford, Ellsbury Kei Igawa
Tank, Oh the memories of Carl Crawford, and I thought he would be good in Boston.
Frailsbury was great in 2011 but I was happy he got away. Lester not so much.
Bottom line, I’m glad I root for a big market team. Better to see the billionaire loosen up a little. He’s still making a haul, even carrying 50 million in dead money.
I have friends from Boston who laughed like crazy at the contract Ellsbury got. They already had Gardner who is the same guy and gave 153 million to Ellsbury who earned the nickname Jake for jaking injuries.
LOL, Ells and his DL partner Victorino had a very good year in the 1 & 2 spots in 2013. Cashman saw the WS win and apparently thought GArner and Ells would do the same for NY in 2014.
He was wrrroooonnnggg. Cost the Steiny’s a good chunk of change to find out.
I liked Ells in Boston on cheap money, No way for 20+ million per year due to his health.
You’re forgetting Carl Pavano.
If I’m remembering correctly, I don’t think Ellsbury was a Cashman signing. That was Hank Steinbrenner, from the articles I read at the time.
They don’t let Hank in the building anymore.
And water is wet
Is it really tho?
Does a submarine swim?
No way one man is this fragile lol. This is his like 10th injury this year without stepping on a baseball field.
Troy tulowitzki begs to differ
Grady Sizemore on line 1
Brian Roberts to see you, sir And he has brought Mike Hampton
Wow, I think I pulled a hammy on this trip down memory lane…DL stint for me
Carl Pavano on line 2
New york mets on line 3
Cardinals on line 4
Dead horse on line 1
Jake is a pretty good nickname for Ellsbury, but I think it was the NY Post that came up with one of the all-time great nicknames in that vein when they gave Pavano his “American Idle” crown.
Out of service Purvis Ellison, NBA.
Bill Walton and his constantly gimpy feet. gong back several decades there to bring up “red”
Classic! I loved that one, even while I was disgruntled over the bum never playing.
Kei Igawa holding long distance.!
The entire preseason roster for the Angels on Line 7…
didn’t know sitting on the beach counting your cash all day required hip surgery
Well, if he’s laying on a blanket on the beach, the angle might be awkward on the hip.
lol
Maybe he got up to quick when judge got injured?
Only two more years, Yankee fans
“Only two more years, Yankee fans”
Yankees fans shouldn’t care much one way or the other, Mr. Goat. Other than cap room, Ellsbury isn’t hurting them or preventing them from doing anything. He’s just costing them money.
thank you for your service
Please don’t use “thank you for your service” cause it is reserved for active duty military and military veterans. I would even apply it to all forms of law enforcement, fireman, rescue personnel of any kind. That phrase like “going to war” should never be used in a sports context, it demeans the men and women who suit up for real. Sorry folks stuff like that really irks me, for so many reasons…
Lighten up, Francis.
Never on that!!!
Please don’t use the term “famine” in a joking manner within your nickname. Famine is a serious issue that affects a lot of people around world. …lighten up, pal.
Get Hulu…pal
Over your head I see…
Yeah, no Hulu in Canada. Haha
“Please don’t use “thank you for your service” cause it is reserved for active duty military and military veterans” biggest snowflake in the world right here
Maybe if you did more than just throw out meaningless terms.
Don’t hate Bruh, just cause the only service you ever did was Community Service
“biggest snowflake in the world right here” Why are you calling yourself a snowflake?
“ . . . the only service you ever did was Community Service.”
You forgot lip service.
thank you for your service
No phrase is reserved for anything. The English language has never accepted reservations. Just because you exclusively and one-dimensionally interpret the phrase your way doesn’t mean everyone else has to.
Super Facts
Thank you. We don’t agree a lot here, but what that poster did really irked me as well as a veteran from many a year ago.
I think some people really have no respect is what it is of vets, police and other dangerous “jobs” some people have done.
Thank You, and it’s great on this one we can sit aside sports. What really irks me even more were the posts by Padres458, jekporkins, and the original posters S.A. follow up. Reflect..with his reply just reflects what you said “I think some people really have no respect” maybe if he served like you, I, and so many others he’d get it.
Ok that cracked me up
Didn’t know sitting on a bench could throw your hip out of realignment so badly….
Well this news should slow down those insipid trade ideas involving some team taking Ellsbury off the Yankees hands.
Not a Yankees fan just curious: how much money does the Yankees own this player?
44 million over the next two plus a 5 million dollar buyout
what a waste of $$$
This contract has to be one of the biggest busts in Yankee history. At least Arod was productive for some of his.
Agreed.
“This contract has to be one of the biggest busts in Yankee history.”
Kei Igawa, Steve Kemp, Hideki Irabu and Carl Pavano disagree.
Stanton all set to replace him when Ells is finally off the books. Full circle.
Does he still make 21m a year to not play?
Yep, 21 Mill no matter what
Insurance will compensate the Yankees for a good chunk of his salary.
Maybe. It’s been stated it’s unclear if his contract is covered.
Not as much as you’d think
tragically hip?
Ouch. But not bad.
$21.14 million a year through 2020, plus a $5 million buy out on the team option for 2021. That’s a lotta $ right down the toilet.
In before someone makes a stupid comment about trading him to the Giants.
$69.42 left (including 2018)
Great deal Cashman.
It’s actually not so bad (this year at least). They’ll recoup most of the $ from insurance and 60-day DL means he doesn’t take up a spot on the 40-man. Only truly bad part is the hit against the luxury tax threshold.
Even if he’s lost this season completely, you gotta admit that keeping him away from the BoSox was totally worth just under seventy bucks.
Ellsbury and Tulo… both cant get off the DL and are paid a fortune.
Horrible contract. But, it was also a signing because Cano went to SEA. Not including this year, Cano has 5 years $120M on his contract.
Cano had played at all star level tho, I don’t see your point
Top 10 worst contracts of all time?
I thought the recover time for this surgery is two years. Don’t rush your rehab dude.
Not like the Yankees need him.
Kenny Lofton should undergo Hall of Fame surgery
Go away
Who?
I never understood this signing from day 1. The Yankees already had a fast CF in Gardner. He was always injured with the Red Sox. They were just desperate to get any kind of free agent that offseason. He only had the one good season…which was Brady Anderson-like…30+hr/100rbi for a guy who could barely hit 10 hr previously. Complete trainwreck…worse than Pavano!
“Complete train wreck…worse than Pavano.”
Nope. Pavano was called out by Mussina and Jeter for his lack of commitment. Has any current Yankee done that with Ellsbury? I’d guess that many of the younger players don’t even know he is on the team. Pavano became so afraid of failure that he avoided the competition; can’t say the same about Ellsbury. More money misspent with Ellsbury, of course, but it isn’t anyway near as bad as Pavano.
I love when bad contracts happen to teams like the Yankees……or Red Sox…..or Cubs…..or Dodgers…..or Angels…..
Don’t forget the Mets!
Mo Vaughn, Bobby Bonilla
Go easy on Vaughn, he tore his biceps in the weight room. Totally natural occurrence that could’ve happened to anyone.
What’s a bicep have to do with a knee?
I would have pity on the Mets, but you’re right. That Bonilla contract might just be the dumbest in history.
The Bonilla contract was pure genius. Think about it.
“The Bonilla contract might just be the dumbest in history.”
Why? And are you talking about the contract itself or the subsequent refi agreement they reached—which is responsible for his current payments?
Your team should have won the 16 WS. Too bad you have a choke team with a choke manager…
Every team has bad contract unless they are not spending any money, heck the Sox had Panda and Castillo on the books, and the latter never played in the majors. The Mets, have Wright and Cespedes right now which is worse than Ellsbury. Injuries are a big part of the game, and can be the biggest factor in a team making and winning in the playoffs. Overall Ellsbury really hasn’t effected this Yankee team as much as the loss of Judge for a month.
Cleveland doesn’t.
That’s because Cleveland doesn’t spend big money, instead they would rather blow 3-1 and 2-0 leads in the playoffs.
+1 they are chokers
Bad contract from the moment it was signed, but I didn’t expect him to be this bad. With Chris Davis coming out of his funk the last week or so, and Albert having a good July, does this crack the top five in bad contracts?
The Davis one is the worst, he’s having one of the worst offensive seasons in baseball history.
Not gonna lie I forgot he was even still playing
What’s with the 1890’s haircut?
Despite all the injuries and the contract he was a very exciting player to watch, That 2011 season was rather insane has a player with that long of experience ever hit 30 percent of his career homers in one year?
the yanks just barfed on themselves this past weekend….cant wait to see boone after yanks loose in the play in game…..i cant wait for that moment…his giardi moment times 10….cant wait…oh by the way ellsbury stinks but is laughing all the way to the bank…a great cashman signing…
You’re gonna be waiting for a long, long time.
“Loose”? You may want to consult a dictionary.
Oh, well. This surgery is probably necessary to restore enough function to allow Jake to lead a normal, physically active life, and is not meant to get him back to playing professional sports. So congratulations are in order, for a solid, dare I say occasionally awe inspiring MLB career, that is now obviously over.
Yankee fans have no reason to hold a grudge. I’ve certainly seen no evidence that he gave us anything less than 100% effort. And some insurance company is probably paying his salary, so no harm, no foul.
The one thing I’m disgusted by is the (hopefully rare) Red Sox fans who seem to derive some kind of perverse joy out of a player who has helped their organization immensely, in the past, suffering a career ending injury.
Looks like Ellsbury one upped Frazier as their response to big head Kay’s ignorant remarks.
What was Jacoby Ellsbury doing to injure his hip while he was on the DL?
Cashing checks
Please just release him and eat the money
Please get on the phone and call the Giants regarding Cutch!! If I have to watch another game with Shane Robinson in it I’m going to lose my mind! As for Luke Voigt please send him packing and sign Luis Valbuena who was recently let go. He will play at a 20 times higher level then Luke Voigt! Really it’s insane that Robinson and Voigt are on the roster.
Ells has always been soft. His rehab sessions were always questionable when he was in BOS. No one knew where he was or what he was doing and I think it was Youk that called him out. He got paid and he’s moving on. I’m sure plenty of players took this angle in their careers.
I doubt he plays again. The insurance payouts the Yanks are receiving are probably way more valuable than any production they’ll get from him in the line up.
Happy trails Jake. You used to be a highlight reel player.