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Greg Bird

Yankees, Greg Bird Agree To Minor League Deal

By Anthony Franco | April 5, 2022 at 8:43am CDT

The Yankees have signed first baseman Greg Bird to a minor league contract, reports Sweeny Murti of WFAN (Twitter link). Bird, who was just released by the Blue Jays after failing to crack the Opening Day roster, will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. If he cracks the big league roster, he’d earn a $1MM base salary, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter).

Bird returns to the only organization with which he’s suited up at the major league level. One of the better prospects in the New York system during his days in the minors, the lefty-hitting Bird debuted in the majors with a .261/.343/.529 showing in 178 plate appearances in 2015. That set him up as a possible first baseman of the future in the Bronx. Unfortunately, he missed the entirety of the 2016 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, and he’s yet to rediscover his debut-season form.

Over parts of three seasons between 2017-19, Bird hit just .194/.287/.388 in 522 plate appearances. New York designated him for assignment after the 2019 campaign, and he hasn’t played in the majors since then. Over the past two seasons, the former 5th-round pick has joined the Rangers, Phillies, Rockies and Blue Jays organizations on minor league pacts, but he hasn’t gotten another big league call. Reports this spring suggested he was seriously in the running for an Opening Day spot in Toronto, but the Jays opted for more defensive flexibility in promoting utility infielder Gosuke Katoh instead.

While Bird hasn’t had much big league success of late, he’s coming off a solid season with the Rockies top affiliate in Albuquerque. He hit .267/.362/.532 with 27 homers for the Isotopes — albeit in one of the most hitter-friendly environments in affiliated ball. The Yankees have fellow left-handed hitter Anthony Rizzo at first base, but Bird can step into the high minors as a depth option.

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New York Yankees Transactions Greg Bird

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Blue Jays Release Greg Bird

By Steve Adams | April 4, 2022 at 11:39am CDT

The Blue Jays have released first baseman Greg Bird from his minor league contract, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). Toronto gave “strong” consideration to carrying Bird on the roster, Nicholson-Smith adds, but ultimately the Jays will go in a different direction with their Opening Day 28-man roster.

Bird, 29, had a strong spring showing in Dunedin, hitting .261/.393/.565 with a pair of homers, a double, five walks and five strikeouts in 28 trips to the plate. That performance comes on the heels of a .267/.362/.532 batting line with 27 home runs in 461 plate appearances with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate last season.

There’s never been too much doubt that Bird has the ability to hit. He was at one point viewed as a possible long-term option at first base for the Yankees, and understandably so after a .261/.343/.529 batting line and 11 home runs in 178 plate appearances as a rookie in 2015. Injuries, however, have taken their toll on Bird over the years and caused him to miss substantial amounts of time. Shoulder surgery wiped out his entire 2016 campaign, and when he returned in Spring Training the following year, Bird fouled a ball off his ankle that resulted in an injury which eventually required surgery. A year later, that same ankle required a second surgery, and in 2019, he developed plantar fasciitis in his other foot and missed the bulk of the season.

Bird’s huge rookie showing, his career .277/.365/.530 slash line in Triple-A, and this year’s brief but impressive spring performance with the Jays all serve as a reminder of the upside he has at the plate. It’s quite possible he’ll draw interest from another team in need of some help at first base and/or designated hitter. Nicholson-Smith does note that there’s some chance of the Jays re-signing Bird to a new minor league deal, but he’ll of course have the opportunity to talk to all 29 other clubs now as well.

Any team that does pick him up could technically control him not only for the 2022 season but also through 2023 via arbitration, though he’d first need to make the big league roster at some point and hold a spot through season’s end.

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Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Greg Bird

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Blue Jays Sign Greg Bird To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | March 10, 2022 at 9:52am CDT

The Blue Jays have signed first baseman Greg Bird to a minor league contract, tweets Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. It’s the second minor league pact of the morning for the Jays, who also inked right-hander Joe Biagini not long ago. Bird wasn’t on a 40-man roster last year and became a minor league free agent at season’s end, thus allowing him to sign a minor league contract even during the MLB lockout.

Now 29 years old, Bird at one point looked like a potential long-term option for the division-rival Yankees at first base. He burst onto the scene in 2015 with a .261/.343/.529 slash for the Yanks, swatting 11 homers and nine doubles in just 178 plate appearances. As a former fifth-round pick who’d posted consistently excellent offensive numbers throughout his minor league contract, Bird looked quite promising.

Injuries, however, completely derailed his time with the Yankees. A torn labrum in his shoulder required surgery that cost him the entire 2016 season. He again captured the intrigue of Yankees fans when he ripped eight home runs in during 2017 Spring Training, but Bird fouled a ball off his ankle at the end of camp and quite literally limped through the first month of the season before hitting the injured list and undergoing surgery. That procedure removed the “os trigonum” bone from his ailing ankle. He returned in late August and again hit well down the stretch (.253/.316/.579, eight homers in 98 plate appearances).

Bird and the Yankees hoped the injuries could be put behind him for the 2018 season, but by the end of Spring Training that year, it became clear that the ankle was still an issue. He underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from that same surgically repaired ankle — a third surgery in three years — and spent the first six weeks of the year on the injured list. When healthy, Bird didn’t resemble his once-productive form, posting just a .199/.286/.386 batting line in 311 plate appearances. His 2019 campaign didn’t go any better, as he developed plantar fasciitis in his other foot and ultimately missing the majority of the season. The Yankees cut him loose following that 2019 campaign.

Bird has since signed with the Rangers and Rockies organizations, most recently spending the 2021 season with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate, where he posted a .267/.362/.532 batting line with 27 home runs in 461 plate appearances. That was “only” about 17 percent better than league average, after accounting for the hitter-friendly setting (117 wRC+), but it was encouraging to see Bird produce well and remain healthy enough to appear in 112 games.

The Jays are obviously set with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, and their deep outfield mix means they don’t necessarily have a need for a regular designated hitter. They’ve also been at least loosely connected to Freddie Freeman, and while that’s a long-shot fit, it’d only further reduce Bird’s chances of breaking through to the big league roster. That said, Bird is a perfectly sensible player to stash in Triple-A in the event of an injury, and if he hits well enough in Buffalo, the Jays can perhaps find a way to work his left-handed bat onto the roster in a part-time role.

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Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Greg Bird

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Rockies Select Chi Chi Gonzalez To 40-Man Roster

By Anthony Franco | March 27, 2021 at 2:59pm CDT

The Rockies announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Chi Chi González. Reliever Scott Oberg has been placed on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Oberg’s career is in jeopardy after he underwent surgery to remove blood clots from his right elbow yesterday.

González has pitched in twenty games (starting 16) for Colorado over the past two seasons. The former Ranger hasn’t performed particularly well, managing just a 5.66 ERA/5.62 FIP with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (16.8% and 11.7%, respectively). Still, the 29-year-old will give manager Bud Black a multi-inning option capable of working out of the rotation or in long relief.

Additionally, Colorado announced they’ve optioned Lucas Gilbreath and Colton Welker and reassigned a host of non-roster invitees (Greg Bird, José Briceño and Eric Stamets among them) to minor-league camp. Dereck Rodríguez and Connor Joe are the only non-roster players who remain on the major league side of Spring Training.

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Colorado Rockies Transactions Chi Chi Gonzalez Colton Welker Connor Joe Dereck Rodriguez Eric Stamets Greg Bird Jose Briceno Scott Oberg

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Quick Hits: Rockies, Cron, A’s, Mathias, Angels

By Anthony Franco | March 17, 2021 at 8:41pm CDT

C.J. Cron appears to be the favorite to claim the Rockies’ open first base job, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post as part of a reader mailbag. Signed to a minor-league deal in February, Cron is competing with Josh Fuentes and fellow non-roster invitee Greg Bird. Installing Cron at first would allow Fuentes to see action at multiple corner positions off the bench. That might make it tough to also carry Bird as a lefty bench bat, although Saunders notes there’s a chance all three players make the season-opening active roster, particularly if Brendan Rodgers is forced to start the year on the injured list after straining his hamstring. Cron and Bird would each need to be added to the 40-man roster if they make the team, although Colorado currently has one open 40-man spot.

More from around the sport:

  • Athletics left-hander A.J. Puk made his Cactus League debut today. He threw approximately 30 pitches this afternoon and plans to toss around 45 in his next outing, writes Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Manager Bob Melvin has mentioned Puk as a potential option for the season-opening rotation if Mike Fiers, suffering from hip inflammation, isn’t ready by the first week of April. It remains to be seen if Puk will have enough time to sufficiently build up strength for the start of the season himself.
  • The Brewers placed Mark Mathias on the 60-day injured list yesterday to create roster space for Travis Shaw. It seems Mathias will be on the shelf for significantly longer than that two-month minimum. The utilityman suffered a posterior labrum tear, he told reporters (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Mathias is awaiting a second opinion on the possibility of rehabbing the injury without surgery; even if he can avoid going under the knife, the 26-year-old says he’s likely looking at a three to four month layoff. Mathias made his MLB debut last season.
  • Today’s news that Felix Peña likely won’t be available for Opening Day leaves the Angels’ bullpen down an important arm. After the injury, general manager Perry Minasian acknowledged the club might now go outside the organization to acquire additional relief help, Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic was among those to relay. Free agency still offers a few possibilities, with 32-year-old righty Shane Greene arguably the top arm available. Greene’s market has been rather quiet all offseason, but he continues to throw in anticipation of an opportunity, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
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Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Angels Milwaukee Brewers Notes Oakland Athletics A.J. Puk C.J. Cron Greg Bird Josh Fuentes Mark Mathias Shane Greene

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Rockies, Greg Bird Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 11, 2021 at 1:27pm CDT

The Rockies have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent first baseman Greg Bird, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com (via Twitter). He’ll be in Major League camp this spring.

Bird, 28, had a promising rookie debut with the Yankees back in 2015 when he hit .261/.343/.529 with 11 homers in 178 trips to the plate. Injuries have torpedoed his career since that showing, however, as he’s undergone surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder and to remove bone spurs in his ankle. It’s hard to believe that five seasons have elapsed since Bird first broke into the Majors, but that is indeed the case, and he’s batted just .194/.287/.388 in 522 plate appearances since that time.

Bird spent much of the 2020 season with the Rangers organization, but he didn’t play in a big league game with Texas. Bird does carry a career .296/.370/.528 batting line in parts of three Triple-A seasons, and first base has been a problematic position for the Rockies in recent years. Colorado doesn’t have a set option at first base currently. Veteran Ian Desmond seems the likeliest candidate, but he’s also played outfield and bounced around the infield, so he could play elsewhere should Bird, Ryan McMahon or Josh Fuentes seize an opportunity at first base.

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Colorado Rockies Transactions Greg Bird

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Greg Bird Tested Positive For COVID-19

By Connor Byrne | September 23, 2020 at 3:39pm CDT

The Phillies signed Greg Bird to a minor league contract Sept. 15, but the first baseman tested positive for the coronavirus upon physical entry after that, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Consequently, the Phillies did not place Bird on their 40-man playoff roster. Fortunately, though, none of the Phillies at the team’s alternate site were exposed to Bird.

The Phillies signed Bird as a potential insurance policy at first base, where starter Rhys Hoskins hasn’t played since Sept. 12 because of a UCL injury in his left arm. It now seems likely the Phillies, who are battling for a playoff spot, will have to go the rest of the regular season without Hoskins. They’ve used a mix of Alec Bohm, Phil Gosselin and Jay Bruce in Hoskins’ place, while Jean Segura has taken over for Bohm as their primary third baseman and Scott Kingery has slid in for Segura at second.

Meantime, it’s very much up in the air whether Bird will ever play for the Phillies, though the main hope for now is that he’ll be able to recover well from this illness. Once a well-regarded Yankees prospect, Bird burst on the scene in 2015, but a series of health issues have derailed his career since then. The 27-year-old took 522 trips to the plate from 2017-19 but could only muster a .194/.287/.388 line, and Bird didn’t stick with the Rangers for long after they signed him over the winter.

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Philadelphia Phillies Greg Bird

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Phillies Sign Jonathan Lucroy, Greg Bird

By Connor Byrne | September 15, 2020 at 10:50pm CDT

The Phillies have signed catcher Jonathan Lucroy and first baseman Greg Bird to minor league contracts, Matt Gelb of The Athletic tweets. The two will report to the team’s alternate site, and because they’re joining the 60-man player pool on the day of the Sept. 15 postseason eligibility deadline, they will be eligible for playoff rosters if the Phillies make it.

The Phillies are banged up at catcher and first base, so this is a late effort by the club to add depth as the posteason nears. Philadelphia’s 24-23 and on track for a playoff spot, though starting catcher J.T. Realmuto hasn’t played since Sept. 12 because of hip problems, and first baseman Rhys Hoskins went to the IL on Monday as a result of a left UCL injury.

Lucroy, like Realmuto is now, was one of the majors’ best catchers in his heyday. However, the former Brewers standout has fallen on hard times offensively and defensively with a few teams over the past couple years. The Red Sox released Lucroy on Tuesday, which came after he totaled one plate appearance with the club this season.

Bird was a high-profile prospect with the Yankees not too long ago, and he made an encouraging debut in 2015, but a series of injuries have helped derail his career since then. Bird was previously with the Rangers, who designated him for assignment in August. The 27-year-old could now reunite with Joe Girardi, who managed the Yankees at the beginning of Bird’s career and is now the Phillies’ skipper.

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Philadelphia Phillies Transactions Greg Bird Jonathan Lucroy

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Rangers Select Juan Nicasio; Greg Bird Elects Free Agency

By Jeff Todd | August 14, 2020 at 3:11pm CDT

The Rangers have announced a few roster moves. Righty Juan Nicasio is headed back to the majors after his contract was selected. The club will bid adieu to first baseman Greg Bird, who elected free agency after clearing outright waivers.

In other news, the team has placed backstop Robinson Chirinos on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained right ankle. Fellow catcher Jose Trevino was called up to fill in behind the dish.

This makes a decade’s worth of MLB seasons for Nicasio, who’ll soon turn 34. He struggled to a 4.75 ERA in 47 1/3 frames last year with the Phillies.

Bird will head back to the drawing board after only a single game in a Rangers uniform. He never even saw a chance to swing a bat with the Texas club, having landed on the injured list shortly after his promotion.

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Texas Rangers Greg Bird Jose Trevino Juan Nicasio Robinson Chirinos

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Rangers Designate Greg Bird For Assignment, Select Derek Dietrich

By Steve Adams | August 11, 2020 at 6:02pm CDT

The Rangers announced a series of roster moves Tuesday afternoon, most notably adding recently signed Derek Dietrich to the Major League roster and designating first baseman Greg Bird for assignment (after first reinstating him from the injured list). Texas also selected the contract of lefty Wes Benjamin from its alternate training site and optioned right-hander Jimmy Herget and infielder Anderson Tejeda.

Designating Bird for assignment opened one of two requisite roster spots for Dietrich and Benjamin. The other looks to have come from placing right-hander Luke Farrell on the Covid-19 injured list. Texas merely announced that Farrell has been placed on the IL, but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News further reports that it is a Covid-19 IL placement due to Farrell coming into “close contact” with an individual who has tested positive. Farrell has tested negative to this point, per Grant.

Dietrich only just inked a minor league contract with the Rangers yesterday, but he’ll step in as an apparent first base and second base option in the wake of Bird’s departure. The longtime Marlins utilityman slugged a career-best 19 home runs last year, though the overwhelming majority of his production came in the season’s first nine to ten weeks. Dietrich experienced a precipitous dip in production after that point but will look to rebound in his latest setting after being unable to grab a big league spot on prior minors pacts with the Reds and Cubs.

The 27-year-old Benjamin is stepping onto a big league roster for the first time. He was clobbered in Triple-A in 2019 (5.52 ERA in 135 1/3 frames), but that’s true of most of the league’s pitchers after unprecedented levels of home runs that mirrored the Major League long ball surge. Prior to 2019, Benjamin had run up a sub-4.00 ERA in each of his professional seasons, topping out with a solid showing at Double-A in 2018 (3.62 ERA, 72-to-23 K/BB ratio in 79 2/3 innings).

As for Bird, the former Yankees first base hopeful will again be on the lookout for a new team. He’s shown in the past that he has all of the skill to be a strong offensive contributor in the Majors, but shoulder and ankle injuries have completely derailed his career to this point. It’s perhaps telling that he landed on the IL with the Rangers before taking his first plate appearance with the club.

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Texas Rangers Transactions Anderson Tejeda Derek Dietrich Greg Bird Jimmy Herget Luke Farrell

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