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Reggie Yinger

Clinical Notes: Mark Teixeira Out 8-to-10 Weeks

Wednesday March 6th, 2013

Mark Teixeira is the latest Yankee to land on the injury list. (US Presswire)

The New York Yankees suffered another injury blow to one of their significant players, as the team announced first baseman Mark Teixeira will miss between 8-to-10 weeks with a strained right wrist.

According to Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman was informed that Teixeira's wrist injury was similar to that of Jose Bautista's 2012 wrist injury.

Teixeira, 32, originally injured his forearm preparing for the World Baseball Classic. After being removed from the USA roster, further tests revealed that Teixeira suffered a strained right wrist and will be shutdown from baseball for at least four weeks.

Although the 2009 season for Teixeria was a good one (.292/.383/.565 with a .948 OPS and 39 home runs) - his OPS productivity has decreased since the 2009 season. Although his numbers are well above the major league average, you can still see the decline from year to year.

Google Visualization API Sample

As mentioned with Curtis Granderson, the timing of the injury is awful. With Alex Rodriguez recovering from a hip procedure, Derek Jeter returning from a serious ankle injury, and Granderson breaking his arm Teixeira now joins the long list of injured players for New York. The Yankees are running out of options to place in the lineup, and All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano will have the bulk of the responsibility to carry the team offensively to start the 2013 season.

For replacements at first base, the Yankees have several mix-and-match options - Kevin Youkilis was signed to play third base, but could shift over to first base more frequently now. The team also has options of Dan Johnson, Juan Rivera, Francisco Cervelli, and Matt Diaz. Although the team signed Travis Hafner during the off-season, Hafner hasn't played first base since 2007 due to a shoulder injury.

From a fantasy standpoint, I ran the updated numbers on projections and Teixeira's numbers take a significant hit and will likely drop him a few tiers in projections/rankings. In all likelihood, the earliest he could return to the Yankees lineup is sometime near the end of May, but it could easily be sometime during the month of June before he sees big-league action. The numbers don't account for the type of injury, but considering wrist/arm/hand injuries can be tricky regarding a player's power, I would personally suspect that Teixeira's power will be very limited when he returns in 2013.

Reggie Yinger is a writer and the co-founder of Baseball Press. He is also a computer programmer. His work has been featured in several print and online publications. He enjoys fantasy baseball and hates when players bunt in baseball.

comments

by Anonymous on Wednesday March 6th @ 7:44PM

How do you think all of the injuries to hitters effects the starting pitchers in NY? Does their value drop and how much?

by Reggie Yinger on Wednesday March 6th @ 10:16PM

Good question. CC Sabathia is recovering from off-season surgery, Phil Hughes has a back issue, and Michael Pineda is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, so I think a lot of the Yankees pitching is going to suffer from injuries and setbacks rather than the lineup, but certainly having a mediocre lineup every night won't help them in the "pitching wins" category. On a side note, I think Kuroda and David Phelps have nice late-round value.