Yankees Greg Bird Hopes to Play in Arizona Fall League

New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird hopes to play in the Arizona Fall League after missing the entire 2016 season following shoulder surgery.

The loss of Greg Bird prior to the start of spring training was a crushing blow to the Yankees hopes of contention before the season even began. The biggest thing missing for New York this season has been that big bat in the middle of the lineup, and it’s easy for fans to envision Bird having been that guy if things had only gone differently.

With no ready replacement for the struggling Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees have just had to cross their fingers and hope for a turnaround that never came from their aging sluggers. Bird was not expected to win a starting job out of spring training, but with the way the offense performed this year, he certainly would have been up and playing every day by May.

Although he began the 2015 season in Double-A and was not expected to have a big league impact that year, Greg Bird earned a surprise MLB call-up in August and was arguably the Yankees best hitter down the stretch. In 178 plate appearances, Bird put up a  .261/.343/.529 (137 wRC+) slash line with 11 home runs.

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Combined with Luis Severino’s success in the rotation, the emergence of Bird gave Yankees fans hope that the revamped farm system was beginning to change the face of the team. Losing Bird really knocked some of the optimism and fun out of the 2016 season.

Updates on the 23-year-old first baseman have been few and far between, but Yankees Manager Joe Girardi told reporters prior to Friday’s game (via Chad Jennings of the Journal News) that the plan is for Bird to see some action in this year’s Arizona Fall League.

"I think that’s the plan. I haven’t sat down and talked to Brian (Cashman) about what our plan is, but I think our plan is for him to play somewhere in the Fall. I would think that’s where he would go."

The good news is that Greg Bird has already resumed baseball activities. Girardi mentioned he had been swinging, throwing, and doing conditioning work. The AFL opens on October 11th, so presumably Bird is expected to be close to full strength by then.

All Yankees GM Brian Cashman would tell reporters is that Arizona Fall League rosters have not yet been set.

Other guys who could be candidates for the Fall League are outfielders Aaron Judge and Mason Williams, who both missed time with injury. Starting pitcher Domingo Acevedo has had a few DL stints also, so the Yankees may want him to build up some innings. Recent acquisition Billy McKinney, who has struggled to recover from a knee issue in 2016, is another possibility.

Greg Bird was the Arizona Fall League MVP in 2014 when he hit .313/.391/.556 (156 wRC+). That performance was really his coming out party as a prospect. It would be fun to see him and Judge reunite in the AFL.

Next: Yankees Face Uncertain Future at First Base

Getting Greg Bird on the field in 2016 would be a major win for the Yankees and go a long way towards letting them know what they have at first base in 2017. Joe Girardi also mentioned the plan is to have Bird possibly compete with Tyler Austin for the starting gig next spring.