DL, Yankees

Mark Teixeira on DL 8-10 Weeks; Is The 2013 Yankees Season Over?

The bad news: Mark Teixeira will miss 8-10 weeks with a strained tendon in his right wrist.

The good news: At least he won’t have a bad April. Ba-dum-CHING!

I knew Mark Teixeira would not survive the World Baseball Classic (which I have been enjoying). I don’t think injury prone players should participate.

Okay, so what’s the over under on the Yankees April record without Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, and a starting catcher in the lineup? At least for the month of April, compared to 2012 the Yanks will be without the raw power of Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, and A-Rod.

Add Dave Robertson’s name to the nagging injury list. We all know Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and CC Sabathia are rehabbing from surgery, but guys like Boone Logan, Kevin Youkilis, and Phil Hughes also may have nagging or serious ailments.

Who’s next? I’ll cast my vote on Brett Gardner- he gets injured every year.

By the way, Brian Cashman broke his leg during a skydiving accident (it was for charity).

The mainstream media likes to say that the “aging Yankees” are getting injured and this was to be expected. That is an oversimplification. Accidents happen (as in the case of 31-year old Granderson), young pitchers always seem to get hurt (26-year old Hughes, 22-year old Michael Pineda), and Teixeira is 32. Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter’s accidents were of the freakish nature. Only A-Rod is the one who is a poster child of declining with age, and that’s probably because of his PED cycling methods.

Here are some names that are penciled in to replace Curtis Granderson: Matt Diaz, Juan Rivera, Melky Mesa and Zoilo Almonte. Very bad. How about firstbase? Carlos Lee and Aubrey Huff are still free agents. Ugh.

Cashman’s first response is always to look inside the organization. One speculated theory is that Kevin Youkilis would play first and Eduardo Nunez would start at third. Nunez has shown no improvement with being able to understand how to field any position, so the Yanks would have to be patient with his on-the-job training. Dan Johnson’s name has been thrown around for 1B.

We can assume that even after April that the Yankees will be dealing with injuries and depth. It appears they have no depth at this time. This is a huge nightmare. The fact that GM Brian Cashman continues to work with full job security and has received Free Passes from the media all of these years just shows you he has them wrapped around his finger due to the media access he grants to those who support him. The talking heads at the YES Network continue to hold their heads up high with optimism. I believe that even without the unofficial salary cap that Cashman would not spend money on replacements or depth.

You have to be drinking Kool-Aid to spin this in a good way- for April, at least. However even after April, I believe the trend will be trying to keep players healthy, getting backups, and trips to the Disabled List. Joe Girardi will feel the pressure; ideally he wanted to spot rest Derek and even Youkilis, but as the players are dropping like flies around Jeter, it will become harder and harder for Joe to make a lineup card.

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