The news grew slightly more daunting yesterday for Mark Teixeira and the Yankees, one of those “Hey it should be fine (but don’t be shocked if it isn’t)!” developments.
Think of it as comparable to the moment the Blockbuster Video folks said, “Oh, people can now rent movies from their homes? Interesting. We’re sure they’d still rather come to our stores.”
Whether Teixeira, who disclosed at Yankees camp that his injury revolves primarily around the sheath of his right wrist tendon, will eventually need surgery to replace the partial tear — which could sideline him for the entire season — is unknown at this point, and moot for today. What we know for now is this:
The closer the Yankees get to their self-imposed deadline to cut payroll, the more Teixeira looks like part of the problem, rather than the solution.
“One thing I’ve thought about the last two years, I’ve been in the best shape of my life [and] I’ve had two injuries, so I think maybe it was just overuse,” Teixeira told reporters at Steinbrenner Field. “Maybe I’m swinging too much. I swing twice as much as anybody.”
Or maybe it’s as simple as this: Teixeira turns 33 next month, and like most aging players — particularly those who adamantly swear off illegal performance-enhancing drugs — he’s more injury-prone than he used to be.
He’s one of just three Yankees players, along with Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia, who is signed beyond 2014, when team ownership has every intention of fielding a payroll under $189 million. We know A-Rod is the King Albatross. Sabathia, his offseason elbow surgery notwithstanding, still stands as an asset; he fought through injuries to reach the 200 innings-pitched mark last year, and good luck finding a replacement for him.
That puts Teixeira in the middle rack: Far from an albatross, yet if the Yankees could hit the “Reset” button on the $90 million they still owe him through 2016 … they’d have to jettison the personable, accountable and replaceable first baseman.
We’re approaching the point of adding “fragile” to that profile. Teixeira used to be an iron man, one of his most endearing traits to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, and he averaged nearly 157 regular-season games per season from 2009 through 2011. Then, last year, early nerve damage to his vocal cords and a late left calf condition limited him to 123 games prior to the playoffs, during which he put up career-low or near-career-low numbers across the board.
To sustain such a serious injury from simply swinging off a tee, as Teixeira was doing earlier this month for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, set off more red flags. Now he’s talking about working less off the field. Might as well consider everything.
“I know there’s a whole bunch of season left,” Teixeira told reporters, “and the time that really matters is the playoffs.”
Absolutely. Well, except that the Yankees’ early lineup will be considerably thinner without Teixeira, Curtis Granderson (right forearm) and Rodriguez (left hip), so much thinner that the Yankees might not have to worry about the playoffs at all. First basemen are replaceable when you have an entire offseason to work on it, not as much so when a guy goes down in spring training and your farm system lacks immediate stand-ins.
Last month in Tampa, I asked Teixeira if the Yankees’ austerity measures had him worried about the franchise’s future, given that he’s committed through the end of Barack Obama’s presidency.
“Whether it’s injuries, whether it’s trades, guys signing as free agents, your team changes no matter what,” Teixeira responded. “I have full confidence that we’re going to be as competitive as ever in the next four or five years.”
If that is to happen, then the Yankees, their margin for error dwindling, must compete because they have Teixeira. Not despite him being on their payroll. Yesterday did not bode well for such a fate.