The New York Yankees have Mark Teixiera under contract for one more season, however, rookie first baseman Greg Bird has been filling in for the veteran nicely. Who will play a bigger role with the team in 2016?
Teixeira hasn't played since Aug. 26 and rumors indicate the Yankees fear he'll be out for the rest of the regular season and perhaps the playoffs as well. The 35-year-old suffered a deep bone bruise on his right shin back in mid-August and his status for the remainder of 2015 is unclear, to say the least.
"After a week of recovery and a failed attempt to return to the lineup, he was issued crutches more than a week ago and is still on them," writes Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News. "GM Brian Cashman said Teixeira had several injections on Tuesday 'to try to calm the nerve down because he feels nerve issues up and down the leg when he puts pressure' on it. The Yankees once-optimistic tone about Teixeira's return sounds more resolute now. Cashman was asked if he wonders if the team's home run leader is lost for the duration and replied 'I do wonder.'"
With that being said, Teixeira has played in only 372 games over the past four seasons. New York clearly cannot rely on him to be healthy, especially if this injury affects him for the rest of the season and further sets him back. Teixeira will be 36 one week after Opening Day in 2016 and the Yankees are seemingly growing eager to give more playing time to their homegrown prospects.
On today's Baseball Tonight Podcast with Buster Olney, a fan's "Bleacher Tweet" posed a good question for the ESPN baseball insider.
The fan asked, "With Bird playing so well for the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez likely to DH again, what role do you think Mark Teixeira will play in 2016?"
Olney responded:
"We've seen with Teixeira - you just don't know how many games he's going to be available to the Yankees. I think they'll go into next year with A-Rod, Bird and Teixeira and then they'll see who comes through that mix. If there's not any apparent playing time for Bird, I think they can send him back to the minor leagues and wait for the call-up because you know eventually one of those other guys will get hurt."
Bird is batting .241/.319/.458 with 15 runs scored, 5 home runs and 17 RBIs in 24 games with the Yankees. He has yet to make an error at first base in nearly 200 innings and four of his homers were go-ahead blasts, which is among the best in the MLB since Aug. 19. Although he's played only 34 games above Double-A and was called up to provide Teixeira with some days off, he's unexpectedly giving the Yankees a much-needed spark.
"Bird is slated to take over for Teixeira full-time in 2017," adds Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. "Teixeira is signed up for 2016, but he probably won't become any less fragile, meaning Bird could pick up a lot of at-bats next year, too.
"He will go into the future with the experience and confidence he is gaining in a pennant race."
It's unknown what the future holds, but if Bird keeps swinging the bat well, he's expected to be a big part of the Yankees in 2016 whether Tex is healthy or not.
