Bye Bye Birdie for New York Yankees: Bird now a free agent
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s Bye Bye Birdie for the New York Yankees.
First baseman Greg Bird became a free agent Wednesday after he cleared waivers and refused an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Bird, who turned 27 on Nov. 9, debuted on Aug. 13, 2015, and hit .261 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs in 46 games. He missed all of 2016 following surgery that Feb. 2 to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury originally sustained that May with Double-A Trenton.
Bird returned to bat .451 with eight homers in spring training during 2017 but fouled a ball off his right ankle March 30, started the season 6 for 60 and went on the disabled list May 2.
When the foot did not improve, Bird had surgery July 18 to remove a bone in the ankle. He returned in late August and hit three home runs in the playoffs, including a seventh-inning drive off Andrew Miller that lifted New York to a 1-0 win over Cleveland in Game 3 of the Division Series.
He slumped to a .154 average with four RBIs during spring training in 2018 and had surgery March 27 to remove a broken bone spur from the outside of the ankle. Bird returned May 26 and hit just .199 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs, losing the first-base job to Luke Voit.
Eligible for arbitration for the first time in 2019, he had a $1.2 million salary. Bird went on the injured list with a left plantar fascia tear on April 16, three days after what turned out to be his final game. He hit .171 in 10 games with one RBI, an opening-day home run off Baltimore's Paul Fry.
-
MLB progress report: 1 early flaw with each of baseball's best teams
Yankees' Aaron Boone ejected five pitches into game vs. A's after fan outburst
Trea Turner, Juan Soto headline Ben Verlander's Team of the Week
-
20 Best pitchers in MLB 2024: Ranking the top 20 starters
2024 World Series odds: Dodgers, Braves still at the top; Orioles rising
Yankees' Aaron Judge booed on bobblehead day after striking out four times
-
2024 MLB predictions by Ben Verlander: Standings, playoffs, World Series
2024 Top 50 MLB Players: Is Shohei Ohtani still No. 1 in our rankings?
Ranking the 10 best closers in MLB 2024
-
MLB progress report: 1 early flaw with each of baseball's best teams
Yankees' Aaron Boone ejected five pitches into game vs. A's after fan outburst
Trea Turner, Juan Soto headline Ben Verlander's Team of the Week
-
20 Best pitchers in MLB 2024: Ranking the top 20 starters
2024 World Series odds: Dodgers, Braves still at the top; Orioles rising
Yankees' Aaron Judge booed on bobblehead day after striking out four times
-
2024 MLB predictions by Ben Verlander: Standings, playoffs, World Series
2024 Top 50 MLB Players: Is Shohei Ohtani still No. 1 in our rankings?
Ranking the 10 best closers in MLB 2024