Yankees lose top prospect and likely trade chip for 2024 to season-ending surgery

Serious question: do the New York Yankees hold the record for most position-player Tommy John surgeries in the last 10 years? Because it's unbelievable how many guys have went down with the UCL injury most common in pitchers.

Top prospect Everson Pereira was the latest victim in what was an update that blindsided fans on Friday morning. SNY's Andy Martino reported the team's No. 5 overall prospect needs the elbow procedure (which knocks him out fot the remainder of the season, if true).

Though Pereira still has plenty of time to grow and make an impact, this really puts his Yankees future in doubt. The slugger unfortunately failed miserably on the offensive end of the ball when he was given 27 games of big-league action last season.

In 2024, he's been solid at Triple-A, and was (at the very least) building his trade value before the July 30 deadline. Across 40 games he was hitting .265 with an .859 OPS, 10 homers, 27 RBI and 5 stolen bases.

But if his trade value wasn't already in question, it's now officially dead for the time being, as rival executives probably weren't sold with his cup of coffee last September and his solid (but unspectacular showing) at Scranton.

Yankees lose top prospect and likely trade chip for 2024 to season-ending surgery

Pereira joins Jasson Dominguez, who is nearing his MLB return following the surgery, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and Didi Gregorious as the notable names who have undergone Tommy John since 2017.

Pereira figured to potentially be in the outfield mix for 2025 (or if another injury occurred in 2024). But now he'll mostly be rehabbing between now and the start of next year, which puts him way behind schedule, assuming the Yankees need to replace one of Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo or Trent Grisham come 2025 (Soto and Verdugo are free agents and Grisham could be a non-tender/trade candidate).

Pereira held a spot on the 40-man roster, which will open once he's placed on the 60-day injured list, so we'll wait and see what the corresponding move is.

In the meantime, this only helps the noise surrounding Dominguez (expected) and Spencer Jones, the Yankees' No. 2 prospect who has been surging in recent weeks.