A-Rod injury threatens Yankees’ season - UPDATE
Posted: Thursday, March 05, 2009 5:00 PM
The Yankees are stunned by the news that Alex Rodriguez might will have to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, and be sidelined for four months 6-9 weeks, plus face more surgery after the season.
A cyst on the hip has been drained, and the three-time AL MVP will miss the World Baseball Classic, but the Yankees hope that through conservative treatment, A-Rod can avoid surgery.
If he doesn’t have to go under the knife, The saving grace of this injury is that it was discovered in the first few days of March. That means A-Rod will have about a month’s recovery time before the start of the season. Even if it takes him longer to get back, say until mid May or so, the blow should not be a devastating one for New York.
For 30 games or so without A-Rod, the Yankees should not lose sight of the Red Sox or Rays in the battle for the AL East crown. The Yankees are deep enough offensively that for that short a stretch they should be able to have others offset the absence of A-Rod’s bat.
There is no denying, however, that the Yankees lack a viable alternative to A-Rod at third base. Cody Ransom is 33, and his major-league career consists of all of a 183 at-bats. Ransom will get it done with the glove, but it’s highly unlikely he’ll open any eyes with his bat.
If the Yankees elect to bypass Ransom and shop around for a third baseman, the most likely names to surface will be Garrett Atkins of the Rockies, Bobby Crosby of the Athletics, and Andy Marte of the Indians.
Atkins becomes a free agent at the end of this season, and he will cost the Yankees a lot. With Yankees general manager Brian Cashman unwilling of late to trade top prospects, he’d likely dangle Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady. But if A-Rod is back by mid May, what becomes of Atkins. He’d be an expensive reserve at $7 million dollars.
Marte got a shot to prove himself last season with Cleveland, but he proved a bust, hitting just .221. There’s little reason to believe Marte would be a significant upgrade on Ransom.
The A’s recently signed Orlando Cabrera to play shortstop so Crosby is out of an everyday job. The Yankees’ chances at acquiring him will depend on how high the asking price is from A’s general manager Billy Beane. But forget any Oakland interest in Swisher, whom the A’s traded to the White Sox in January of last year. A good source tells me Oakland would not ask much in return for offloading Crosby's contract.
It won’t be easy for A-Rod to not be playing baseball. Getting on the field would have been a welcome escape for him from the media firestorm created by his admission last month that he used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003. Of course, being sidelined, he won’t be as visible, and that may be a positive for him and the Yankees when it comes to dealing with the media.
The loss of A-Rod will ramp up the pressure on Mark Teixeira to avoid his typical slow starts. Teixeira arrives in New York as a $180 million free agent, who with A-Rod out of the picture at least temporarily, will find himself the centerpiece of the Yankees’ offense. He’ll feel the intensity of that, and how well he handles that intensity will be critical to the Yankees’ attack.
Let’s also not forget that the A-Rod injury aside, the Yankees have significant other questions to be answered this season. Chien-Ming Wang coming back healthy is a big key. How Mariano Rivera responds from surgery in October on his right shoulder is another huge factor.
Also, catcher is a concern as 37-year-old Jorge Posada got into only 51 games last season (only 28 starts at catcher) due to shoulder issues. Can he still play the position?
And with Joba Chamberlain’s expected move into the starting rotation, will the Yankees sweat it out in getting games to Rivera?
Still, as large as these questions loom, no question looms larger than how much time A-Rod will miss. If it winds up he’s out for half a season or more, the Yankees will miss the playoffs for a second straight year.
