TORONTO, CANADA – SEPTEMBER 23: Greg Bird #31 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout with a patch honoring Hall of Fame player Yogi Berra #8 who passed away a day earlier before the start of MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 23, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

For the first time in years, the Yankees are pretty likable this season. They’re overachieving amid moderate expectations, they’re fueled by uber-talented homegrown stars, and they play with a lot of the excitable energy that comes with youth.

But the team’s front office seems pretty set on ruining all the good juju. Months after team president Randy Levine bashed star reliever Dellin Betances for no reason, someone within the organization is now throwing barbs at young first baseman Greg Bird.

Bird has barely played this season thanks to a persistent ankle injury—which is highly inconvenient for a Yankees team with one of the worst first base situations in baseball. But frustrating or not, there’s no real excuse for the quote a “Yankee insider” gave to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News in a column published Friday.

Despite numerous tests that have turned up nothing, Bird continues to insist the ankle is still sore — too sore to allow him to play. The Yankee brass has become exasperated with Bird, who’s never been able to stay healthy, and it has gotten to the point where if he doesn’t get back on the field after the All-Star break, they are prepared to move him over the winter.

“You really have to wonder what’s with this guy,” a Yankee insider complained to me earlier this week. “You’d think with Judge and Sanchez, the guys he came up through the system with, doing so well up here he’d want to be a part of this. Apparently not.”

It appears this “insider” believes Bird is either exaggerating an injury for no reason or wimping out by refusing to force his way back onto the field while facing a potentially serious ailment. Either way, it’s a hell of an accusation.

Bird, naturally, was not thrilled about the comments:

Manager Joe Girardi defended his player against someone who might very well be his boss.

Besides the fact that shaming people for their injuries is an awful thing to do, it can’t be a smart strategy to constantly criticize your players in public. Betances has indicated he’s less likely to re-sign with the Yankees because of Levine’s comments, and you have to imagine Bird won’t ever be to inclined give any sort of hometown discount to a team that trashes him in public. And how can, say, Aaron Judge feel about playing for a team whose front office criticizes players for being hurt?

From these kinds of comments to reported mismanagement of the team’s charity, Yankees suits are doing all they can to keep the franchise hate-able.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

1 thought on “The Yankees brass is at it again, this time criticizing Greg Bird for being injured

  1. George Steinbrenner was tough but he would never say something like this. The person who said this is a no character coward who is too chicken to say these things directly.

    It’s like the Yankee brass are doing all they can to ensure that New York is Met town. The fool who said this should resign since all he is doing is shaming the organization and making the Yankees seem like a mean spirited small organization. George is spinning in his grave – and speaking of George why isn’t Hal firing the guy who made this dumb comment, which does nothing but destroy the morale of the team and make the public hate the Yankees?

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