Yankees reliever Zack Britton underwent a reconstructive procedure to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Erik Boland of Newsday). The surgery will sideline him for at least a significant chunk of the 2022 season, although Boone wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Britton making it back at some point next year.
It’s disappointing and somewhat surprising news. Britton was known to be undergoing elbow surgery, but the southpaw downplayed the possibility of there being significant structural damage at the time of that announcement. Instead, the belief had been that doctors only needed to remove bone chips from the joint. Evidently, there was a more significant issue involved than originally expected.
Britton wasn’t going to return this season in either event, but the presence of ligament damage requires a lengthier recovery timeline than loose bone chips alone would have. While the Yankees hadn’t provided a specific timetable on Britton’s return from the bone chip procedure, it seemed from the outside that he stood some chance of being ready for Opening Day next season. That’s obviously no longer the case, and it’s now in question when he’ll make it onto the mound in 2022.
New York hasn’t yet announced a target date in Britton’s recovery, although the procedure he underwent is similar to a full Tommy John surgery. Those typically require twelve to fourteen month rehab periods, which would seemingly threaten his entire 2022 season. At the very least, he’s not expected back until well after next year’s All-Star Break.
The Yankees had been counting on Britton to be a high-leverage relief option. The longtime Orioles closer adapted extremely well to the Bronx after heading over in a 2018 trade, posting a 2.14 ERA over 105 1/3 innings through the end of 2020. That continued elite performance inspired the Yankees to exercise Britton’s $14MM club option covering the 2022 season last winter. (Had they declined the option, Britton would have had the right to elect free agency last offseason).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem they’ll get much return on that investment because of Britton’s elbow issues. He missed the first couple months of this season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to correct bone chips. He returned to the diamond in mid-June but was up-and-down over 22 appearances before landing back on the IL with his current injury. He’s now in line to miss at least the majority of next season before reaching free agency at the end of that year.
Nice, we’ll be paying him 14 mil to rehab for an audition for other teams for the 2023 season!!
That very well may be the case.
But we have some good LH relievers. Luetge has been good all year. Rodriguez is a good matchup guy. I’m not entirely sold on Peralta. His numbers are (almost?) good enough though.
& Holmes does a better job of keeping the ball on the ground than even Britton does. All of them are under team control for ’21 as well.
It’s certainly not what you want.
But the Yanks already have the answers on their roster for this year & next.
@Ducky, Ridings went on Scranton 7day IL on Aug. 25.
I hope you fend off the Blue Jays, Ducky.
As do I, @goastros123.
But they just beat us up & took our lunch money. I can see some of that ’17 Yankee squad in the Jay’s.
Good ballclub. The AL East is just a really good division. Yanks, sox, & Toronto are all playoff caliber teams. & the damn Ray’s are running away with it! Best division in MLB.
And heaney. Lol
Ducky, I wonder why they haven’t picked up Brad Hand given our need for relievers? He’s LH and had good success. Plus, I’m not sure we can do worse than Heaney.
A few reasons, I should think, @Clip.
To begin with Peralta may be better than Hand at this point.
Also: I don’t really see a need in the ‘pen. Chapman, Loaisiga, Green, & Luetge are a pretty good quartet. & Holmes & Rodríguez are good matchup guys. We’ve got some young, generic power righties in Abreu & Ridings.
I just don’t see a spot for Hand.
Heaney is on the roster because he can start & hopefully chew up most of a game.
We are still trying to scratch up innings. One more starting pitcher (say Tanaka) added last winter & we wouldn’t be needing to scramble like this. Alas.
The amount of dead or just wasted money this team is spending right now is crazy. Part of it is bad luck but Cashman has sure gave out some real dumb contracts lately.
Most GMs would be willing to pay Britton that money given his past performance.
This is the cost of doing business with pitchers.
Britton certainly falls in the unlucky category.
To bad for him this injury marks the end of his career. He may have a few flashes of past performance after he returns but he’ll never be that elite guy again.
Nope.
Luckily for them, yanks have money to spend. However, the deep pockets seem to be hurting them lately. Every offseason, they throw money away on the latest free agent despite how little they offer to the team
That’s what happens when you spend $200+ million every year. Somw of you signings aren’t going to work out. Cashman has spent 2 billion dollars the last 10 Years and won nothing. He is one of the most overrated GM’S in Baseball.
I’m a big Yankees fan (a Met one sometimes), but most “other” fans don’t get why the Yankees need to spend this money. Yes, it’s to help win, but it is also because NY fans demand stars on the field. Stars cost money and the Yankees need to have them. It’s as simple as that.
Big markets, in particular NY, require big names.
Stars that fail are not worth the investment
Most star free agents fail. Yes, some work out, but very few. Just look at the history of free agency. Most players are “baseball” old when they reach free agency. That’s likely why they get hurt so much. I expect to hear comments on Bryce Harper and others not failing, but just check out the history, the percentage of free agents who fail. That’s simply how it is.
THIS IS MY RESEARCH TOPIC FOR SCHOOL LOL MORE OR LESS
@tsats You can look at teams like the Yankees, RS, Angels, and, to an exten Colorado. Priority #1 right now is still fill seats. Winning championships is not the ultimate goal.
Actually the point is sunk cost fallacy and if and how it hurts the teams
Harper is a unique case that as he matured his durability increased. He missed a fair amount of games his first few seasons and people questioned if he was built for a 162 game schedule.
@Tstats I think MLB owners and their employees are smart enough to understand that concept. As fans, we like to gripe about the Chris Davis’, Pujols’, and Miggy’s but they do know the intrinsic values of keeping such players around. It’s not always about sabermetrics and on-field performances. Teams like the Angels, Seattle Colorado that flirt with contention prioritize making a profit first.
That’s nothing compared to the audition that lol they’re paying Stanton for.
“We”’re not a team owner, so “we” won’t be paying him a dime.
That’s what happens when you overpay aging pitchers to try to be the best. The sustainable bullpen guys are usually younger or homegrown. Although same could be said about Stanton and position players.
Did they already guarantee his team option? On br, it looks like it hadn’t been solidified.
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
Britton is getting older not sure why they picked up that option for that amount of money. 14 Million could of been used elsewhere especially on a team worried about the Tax.
In their defense, Brittion was healthy and effective in the two years prior. $14 million for a 34-year-old reliever is a bit much, but I can see why they were willing to pick it up.
They picked it up because, when healthy, he’s transcendent.
yet another reason we will never see another run like the 1996-2003 yankees or the 1991-2005 braves. how do you build a sustainable team when pitchers drop like flies? nowadays, the team that wins the world series is the team that has an outlier season of pitcher health
Dasit the 91-05 Braves?
@dodger1958 1991-2005.
As BeforeMcCort said 8 straight division titles, 3 out of 4 straight World Series appearances. And a disputed 2017 loss to the Astros. Or 1959-1966 Dodgers. WS appearances in 59, 63, 65 and 66. Playoff loss in 62. Rings in 59, 63, and 65. I’ll take that over the Braves so called run of one ring anytime. Not to mention the Yanks of the late 1949s to the (almost) entire 1959s. 1991-2005 simply doesn’t compare to 59-66 or the Yankees.
How come the yankees and the Dodgers cry about 2017 when the Astros pummeled Sale and the Red Sox? That’s simply because the Red Sox won the next year. Well, the Dodgers won, too, so stop crying about 2017. It’s over and done with.
Guess 8 straight division titles, 3 pennants and a ring over those 8 years isn’t good enough
If you develop pitching, you can win year after year
It’s about money. Any pitcher can be replaceable if you don’t overpay.
Hoping he can pitch In The playoffs
Are you commenting on the right article? I don’t think this one means what you think it means.
If they make the playoffs. That is looking very much in doubt.
So we can’t call it Tommy John why?
Tommy John is the branded version; “reconstructive elbow surgery” is the generic.
Tommy John requires a ligament replacement, usually taken elsewhere from the patient’s body. It sounds like Britton is getting his elbow repaired, so it’s not a true “Tommy John” procedure if they aren’t replacing his UCL with a ‘new’ ligament.
Actually it is replacing a damaged UCL with a tendon (cadaver or own body). Not with a ligament.
Tommy john is offensive to people with only 1 first name.
Have to question if he’s worth even keeping on the 40 man. The risk is not worth a Whitlock 2.0.
Another Cashman dandy!
This will help my mets 🙂
Based on the description here, I wonder if Britton had a similar procedure to Maeda’s?
It’s entirely possible the bone chips they couldn’t remove originally is ultimately what caused the additional damage leading to the UCL repair. He was a great, perhaps even underrated, pitcher over seven years, 2014-2020, posting a 1.84 ERA, good for an exceptional 230 ERA+. That’s quite a run of brilliance. Hopefully this is not the end, but he will be 35 at the start of 2023, which is when he’ll likely return.
Weblo reconstruction.
I can see him still doing well down the road. Hope so.