Mark Teixeira the Latest Damaged Yankee

The Yankees already had a damaged Alex Rodriguez. They already had a damaged Curtis Granderson. They already had a damaged Michael Pineda, and a damaged Phil Hughes, and a damaged general freaking manager. Now they get to deal with a damaged Mark Teixeira on top of everything else. The word:

The Yankees’ injury-riddled spring took another serious hit on Wednesday, as the team announced Gold Glove first baseman Mark Teixeira will miss eight to 10 weeks with a strained tendon in his right wrist.

Teixeira’s going to do nothing for four weeks, then he’ll begin rehabbing, provided everything has healed up. According to the timetable, Teixeira should return to the Yankees around the middle of May. In theory, he’ll be 100%, but this is a wrist injury, so it’s possible Teixeira could play with diminished power. No hitter ever wants a wrist injury. Actually no hitter ever wants an injury at all. Who would?

Teixeira felt a pop in his wrist during batting practice with the WBC’s Team USA. On paper, then, this is a WBC-related injury, but let’s not go that far. Further tests revealed the nature of Teixeira’s sprain, and this is supposedly similar to Jose Bautista’s injury from a year ago, for the sake of reference.

We’ll go into greater depth later on, but, obviously, this is a blow. On its own, it isn’t devastating — Teixeira’s something like a 3-WAR player, and he’ll be out just a fraction of the season. But being without both him and Granderson adds up, and then there are the concerns regarding what Teixeira might be when he’s back. At present, the Yankees have some flexibility in their options since Kevin Youkilis can play both corners, but the Yankees aren’t overflowing with desirable stopgaps. We’re talking about Dan Johnson, Eduardo Nunez, and Jayson Nix, conceivably for a number of weeks in the regular season. The Yankees, as one might imagine, will get on the phone and they’ll monitor the waiver wire. Mounting injuries can change one’s willingness to swing a shorter-term trade.

Despite all the injuries, the Yankees ought to still be good. This doesn’t change that. But given where the Yankees project to be on the win curve, every problem is magnified, and everyone else’s odds in the AL East just got a little bit better.