It looks like Yankees’ starting shortstop, Didi Gregorius, will be out at least 6 weeks and possibly 1/4 of the season with a shoulder injury. He was a consistently good hitter last season and made up for the lack of offense from several of the more veteran Yankee regulars. Clearly not the news Yankee fans want to hear. But SU says maybe something positive will come out of this.
For example, the Yankees just sent down 20-year old Gleyber Torres to their Class AA Trenton Club. After all, he had only hit .444 in spring training with some power. The betting is that he will only spend a short time in Trenton and then get elevated to Scranton. Assuming he has success, SU says bring him up to the parent Club as soon as possible and let him cut his teeth up here. By then, Didi will be back in the line up and Chase Headley can then have some competition for at bats at 3rd base.
The injury also creates an opportunity for Rob Refsnyder who has made the least of them over the last couple of years. He has not shined in spring training and rumor is that he is on the trading block.
Meanwhile, Greg Bird has been named the starting first baseman and promptly went out and hit his 5th and 6th home runs of the spring season today. The dude is hitting over .400. Contrast that with Chris Carter who was 0 for 3 today with 3 strikeouts and has a spring training average of .108 with 4 hits and 20 strikeouts. I know. Shocking! Who would have thought that when they signed him? SU says it’s time to go all in on the youngsters. Someone will take Headley in a trade and you can bat Ellsbury 10th or 11th in the lineup. 80 wins will be a real success this season. Don’t be like the Knicks. Go young in a big way and the fans will get behind the team. The Carter signing was stupid. Matt Holliday has had a good spring and if he can be somewhat productive, that’s fine. I know some question Bird’s upside (see frequent SU commenter S. Goldman), but remember that Don Mattingly didn’t have great power numbers in the minors either. Bird is the real deal and should play every day – no platoon needed.
SU has zero interest in watching the veterans anymore and that includes Brett Gardner. They are not interesting. SU is afraid that Girardi will rely on his veterans come April and the hot hitting youngsters will find their way to the minors or to the bench. Time will tell.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Don’t get me wrong. I like Bird. I just don’t see him as a star and was skeptical of all the optimism where people said things like ‘wait till next year when we get Bird back.’ Here’s what we know about him. He was not a highly-rated prospect. His minor league numbers are not outstanding. He filled in briefly in 2015 (only because the team was desperate for a warm body to put at first base) and performed nicely, showing more power than expected but nothing otherworldly (e.g., Sanchez in 2016). There’s only so much that I’m willing to extrapolate from that resume. I don’t see him as a cornerstone of the team but I do see him as a meaningful contributor. If the Yankees are going to build something here for the next decade they will need people like Bird but I don’t see them winning too many championships if Bird is one of their top 3 or 4 players.
I think I disagree. I saw enough back in 2015 to be optimistic and he is showing his stuff this spring as well. He’s not an A-Rod but if want to have a team like the mid-1990s version of the Yankees, he can be in the mold of Bernie, Tino, O’Neill, Chili Davis, Tim Raines, etc. Solid player with some pop. Time will tell of course. I will be back to you in late April with an update.
We can hope. Bernie, Tino, O’Neil and Davis were all multiple time all stars. If Bird has a career that matches any of them, I’ll be happily surprised. However, those same teams, had players like Brosius, Leyrtiz, Girardi, etc. Solid major leagues who can round out a major league roster, become fan favorites and provide the occasional heroic moment. I see Bird in that category and I would be completely fine with that. You can win a world series with a first baseman like Anthony Rizzo who hits 30+ homers with an .800-.900 OPS. But you can also win a world series with a first baseman like Eric Hosmer who hits 20 homers and an OPS .700-.800. If Bird turns into a player like Hosmer, I would be very happy.
And if Bird turns into a Hosmer-type player and retains his (Bird is the Word) walk-up music from 2015, I will be one of his biggest fans.