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The Yankees made it official: Team doctors recommended surgery to fix Mark Teixeira's injured right wrist.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) June 26, 2013
Yankees announce Mark Teixeira's tendon sheath "has not adequately healed" and surgery has been recommended.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) June 26, 2013
This is a big blow to the Yankees now that Mark Teixiera will be gone for the rest of the season. His wrist failed to respond to the cortisone shot he was given after landing back on the DL with inflammation. Despite the shot, he still felt pain in the wrist and considering he was unable to play at 100% when he was with the team, it was clear that the tendon sheath had not healed. When he first suffered the injury it was believed that there was only a 30% chance he would need surgery, but now surgery is imminent.
The Yankees issued a statement concerning the recommendation for surgery:
"After a recent MRI with dye contrast was performed on Mark Teixeira's right wrist," the team said in a statement, "New York Yankees Team Physician, Dr. Christopher Ahmad, along with Dr. Melvin Rosenwasser and two other New York-based hand specialists (Dr. Michelle Carlson from the Hospital for Special Surgery and Dr. Keith Raskin from NYU) confirmed that the sheath has not adequately healed. Surgery has been recommended to repair the tear on the tendon sheath of his wrist."
Since Teixeira's injury occurred while he was training for the World Baseball Classic, his contract was being paid for by the WBC. Despite the reoccurring nature of the injury, as soon as they brought him back to play, the Yankees are now on the hook for the remainder of his contract. Teixeira had said he was ready to play, but Kevin Long mentioned how much pain he was in while hitting, which led him to overcompensate and struggle. It's unclear whether or not he felt this way during his rehab assignment, but now that the injury has been agitated it needs to be fixed.
Lyle Overbay is the Yankees' sole option at first base, but Brian Cashman is certainly going to be on the phone to find an upgrade.
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