Mariano Rivera: How Mo's Injury Impacts His Legacy and Yankees' 2012 Outlook

Mariano Rivera will not be closing games for the New York Yankees for the rest of this season, or probably ever again. It's likely that his days as a major-league relief pitcher have come to a close for good.

This...feels weird.

Indeed it does, but it's true. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the bad news:

"

Mariano Rivera with torn ACL.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 4, 2012"

The Yankees eventually confirmed the news via Twitter.

It was apparent that something very bad happened as soon as those on the scene started telling the whole gory story on Twitter. One of the first tweets came from MLB social media coordinator Whitney Holtzman, which made things sound really, really bad:

"

Mariano Rivera is writhing in pain, holding his knee after it looks like he injured it chasing fly balls in BP.

— Whitney Holtzman (@WHoltzman) May 3, 2012"

At that point, Rivera's injury turned into a medical drama that overshadowed the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals. The climax of said drama was the above announcement, one that confirms that Mo's injury is just as bad as everyone initially feared.

Nobody's using the dreaded "R" word yet, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post was quick to point out that Rivera has said that he doesn't want to go out like this:

"

Rivera acknowledged little about retirement, but made clear whenever he went out didn't want it to be due to injury or failure. #Yankees

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) May 3, 2012"

That may be so, but the man is 42 years old and his contract is up at the end of the season. Torn ACLs take a year to recover from, and that's if there are no setbacks. The odds of him pitching again, in New York or anywhere else, are not good.

If this is indeed the end for the great Mo Rivera, we're looking at a guy who's going to ride off into the sunset with an MLB-record 608 career saves, an MLB-record 42 postseason saves, 12 All-Star appearances, a World Series MVP and five World Series championships.

Greatest reliever ever? You bet, and it's not even close.

Mo's freak injury does not change that. The only thing this injury changes is the perception that Rivera was indestructible. He's just as human as the next guy. It just so happens that it took a long time for him to finally suffer the same kind of bad luck that has bitten so many "next guys" throughout baseball history.

What everyone should be realizing right now is that Rivera has had luck on his side during his career. He's always been in impeccable shape, but freak injuries have never been known to spare professional athletes just because they take care of their bodies.

Nonetheless, Mo's legacy is secure. This injury is a sad story, but it's not a Tony Conigliaro-esque tragedy. Mo has had a damn good run.

Here's the more pressing question: What do the Yankees do now? They've been unsuspectingly thrust into a worst-nightmare scenario that they probably didn't think to consider before the season (or any season for the last 18 years, for that matter).

With Mo out, who closes?

It would have been Joba Chamberlain once upon a time, but his own career has been bitten by the injury bug. Rafael Soriano used to close games, but he hasn't been fooling many hitters this year.

The best and most obvious candidate is David Robertson. He's a guy with outstanding swing-and-miss stuff and excellent control, and he's showed off both of these things this season. He's only given up seven hits in 11 innings, and has 18 strikeouts to just three walks.

Yes, he'll do in the ninth. Quite nicely, I think.

The only problem is that the setup crew will look a lot thinner without Robertson. The Yankees have one of the top bullpen ERAs in the majors, but it's bound to do a little climbing with Robertson out of the setup corps and Rivera out of the picture entirely. This bullpen will not hold every lead it is given.

Big picture-wise, the Yankees' 2012 season has been dealt a significant blow. They are still a very good team, to be sure. But given the strength of the American League East, every win is going to count for a lot. The Yankees are bound to let a few slip through their grasp now that Mo is out.

Make no mistake, with Rivera gone, the Bombers' odds of winning the division have decreased.

Chin up, Bombers. Losing Mo hurts, but don't let it hurt for long. You can still win games.

Win them for him. After nearly two decades of dominance, it's the least you could do.