Yankees’ Greg Bird to miss 2016 season

Didi Gregorius looks like, at the very least, a quality defender at shortstop and a league-average bat.

The New York Yankees and the Scranton Railriders both took a blow, as the team announced that first baseman Greg Bird will miss the entire 2016 season due to surgery to fix a torn right labrum.

Last season he over exceeding expectations when he slashed.261/.343/.529 with an.

To the Major League Yankees, as now constructed, the injury shouldn’t sting too much: The Yanks expect Teixeira to be fully healthy in time for spring training, and Teixeira performed well whenever he was on the field in 2015. Teixeira’s contract expires at the end of this season, and the stars have been nicely aligned for Bird to takeover as a full-time big leaguer in 2017. In 46 big-league games, Bird hit 11 homers.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post was the first to report the news. Bird was expected to fill a similar role this season as insurance against aging stars like Teixeira and designated hitter Alex Rodriguez.

He will have surgery Tuesday to fix the torn labrum. Austin seemed crowded out of the Triple-A outfield, but he could find new life as replacement first baseman for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.