Teixeira could be headed to disabled list
NEW YORK -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Monday that he is leaning toward placing first baseman Mark Teixeira on the 15-day disabled list, but a final decision has not yet been made.
Cashman said on a conference call that he has been told Teixeira will not be available to play for at least seven days after having a cortisone injection to treat inflammation in his right wrist.
"I'm leaning, personally, toward the disabled list there, just because as I've been informed, he took the shot and he'll be down because of the shot for a few days," Cashman said. "Then you've got to get him going slowly with tee work and building up to batting practice.
"He wouldn't be a player for us for seven days at the minimum, and that only takes you through batting practice. Given what he's going through, giving him the extra week is going to make a lot more sense."
Teixeira, 33, removed himself in the fourth inning of Saturday's game against the Angels in Anaheim, saying that he did not feel the proper "snap" in his wrist while batting. An MRI taken in New York revealed no new tear in his tendon sheath.
The injury has affected Teixeira most when batting from the left side; hitting coach Kevin Long revealed in Anaheim that Teixeira has been unable to perform his usual tee drills from that side of the plate because of the discomfort, a comment that took Cashman by surprise.
"It's alarming in the fact that K-Long would say that to the group of reporters, but he never said that prior," Cashman said. "This is a lot of times how things work out when things go bad. If K-Long felt that way, he should have been saying that from Day 1, but we never heard that from K-Long.
"Am I mad at Kevin Long because of that? No. But do I think that that commentary jibes with Kevin Long's comments internally in that clubhouse regarding this player prior to him going down? The answer absolutely is not."
Teixeira is batting .151 (8-for-53) with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 15 games for New York this season, and his struggles from the left side were no secret: he has just three hits in 35 at-bats against right-handed pitching.
Teixeira initially suffered a torn tendon sheath in March while preparing to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Cashman said that the Yankees were as conservative as possible with his recovery, but the 30 percent chance that he will need season-ending surgery has not changed.
"Like before the season started, when this injury hit, he'll either get through it or he'll have to have surgery," Cashman said. "The MRI showed no new tear, it's not a reinjury there. It's inflammation of the tendon.
"But is this something that's a recurring theme because of the previous injury that's going to prevent him from being all he can be? If that's the case, he'll have to have surgery."
Cashman added that if Teixeira will be a limited player from the left side of the plate all season, his preference would be that Teixeira have surgery rather than play part-time or abandon switch-hitting.
"I would think that if it's something that is going to prevent him from playing, that would make him a part-time player, I'd rather he just go get it fixed," Cashman said.
Lyle Overbay will return to regular duty at first base with Teixeira sidelined. Cashman said that he still believes it was the right decision to have Teixeira rehab his wrist injury rather than have surgery in the spring.
"Certainly the way this year is going so far, the odds haven't been in our favor in terms of injuries and how they respond," Cashman said. "At the end of the day, I have no regrets on that aspect.
"He wouldn't have played all year, and if he has the surgery, he won't play the rest of the year. If he had the surgery back then, we wouldn't have had him all year regardless. This still gives him a chance to fight through it."