MARK TEIXEIRA IS SETTING UP HIS "EXCUSE SEASON"

I told all of you how this would unfold.   A few weeks ago I was told over and over about how Mark Teixeira will be fine and "his wrist has gotta be healed by now, right?" Well, not exactly.  See, the Yankees are the masters of "breaking it to you slowly."  In fact, they do it because Yankee fans are spoiled and we need every player to be fully healthy and winning 162 games every season.  That's the way we were brought up, especially if you were a kid in the Steinbrenner era like me. 

The PR handling of injury reports and progress has never really changed for the Yankees.  I mean, we all knew Derek Jeter would be out for the season last year, but it was the Captain, so we let him try to get back, because that's what Captains do. But when it comes to injuries, the Yankees tread lightly with, "He could be away for a few days with a tweaked wrist".  Then, when those few days go by, we need more... "Well, we're just going to sit him for another week or 2... give him some rest, but he's fine." You feeling me so far?

Then what happens is the Yankees won't talk to the media about it directly, they'll instead "sneak" or float a piece to the AP... "Tex is headed to specialist in INSERT THE CITY to check out the wrist." Next thing you know, he's out for the season.  Now... all of what I just mentioned above is a scenario... not directly involving Mark Teixeira, but instead, a scenario of how the Yankees handle injury and progress...

Enter Mark Teixeira's real life scenario... he's still not 100% with that wrist... and he may not be for a while.

2 weeks ago, Tex "hoped" he'd be ready, read HERE. Today, the Wall Street Journal asked Tex about the wrist and this is what was written:

"Teixeira’s doctors have told him that it will take a year for the wrist to feel fully normal, and that the tightness will likely remain throughout. It should improve, however, with every therapy session he completes and every swing he takes.  'I’m expecting until June, and maybe even through this entire season, it’ll be a little tight... Any athlete that says, after a major surgery, that they have no problems, they've never felt anything, they're 100%, and they're going to be as good as ever—yeah, you can say that, but in the back of your mind, you're always thinking, OK, I still have to do it...'"

In other words, he's worried about it.

Look, if I'm the Yankees, I'm keeping him away from the press because Yankee fans get annoyed by stuff like this.  Let's go out and get a first baseman, someone reliable and not overly expensive to fill the void and make sure Mark Teixeira gets back to 100%.  We don't need games this year, we need wins... can we all agree on that?

And before you jump on me... know this, I'm not ranking on Mark Teixeira. What I am doing is giving you the reality of this... always have a back up plan.... always.

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