Yankees may finally be done with Greg Bird
The Yankees have given Greg Bird numerous chances to succeed in the Bronx. His latest injury may be the ugly end to his career in pinstripes.
Greg Bird is the latest Yankee to find himself on the Injured List, but he’s the least likely of those players to ever return to the Bronx. The first baseman’s recent injury may prove to be the final nail in the coffin containing his Yankees career.
The 26-year-old is only expected to miss a few weeks of action with his torn planter fascia, but there’s no guarantee he’ll come back to the Majors once he’s healthy. There’s a significant chance that he’ll never play another game for the Yankees.
Bird almost certainly wouldn’t have made the Opening Day roster if not for an unfortunate injury to Aaron Hicks. The Yankees were adamant that they didn’t want to spend two roster spots on guys that can only DH and play first. That meant Bird and Luke Voit were facing a head-to-head battle for a spot on the roster. Given the way the season has begun it’s clear that Voit is the winner of that unofficial confrontation.
Even if the Yankees’ injury crisis continues, it’s far from a certainty that the organization will believe Bird is still their second best option at first base. In the wake of his injury, Brian Cashman and his front office have elected to bring up Mike Ford from the minors. He was crushing AAA pitching to the tune of .410/.467/.897 with five home runs at the time of his call up. Ford has a golden opportunity to move ahead of Bird in the organization’s pecking order.
The most likely outcome for Bird is that he’ll be sent to AAA himself once he’s ready to play again. There, the team will try to rehabilitate his body and whatever trade value he might have left. There might be a team willing to part with a meaningful asset for a player with such a sweet left-handed stroke, but there will also be organizations who view him as a AAAA player.
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In the end, the odds slightly favor Bird getting one more shot in the majors with the Yankees, but it’s no sure thing. If Ford hits and the roster gets healthy then Yankee fans may have seen the last of the enigmatic first baseman in the Bronx.