Yankees' Nick Johnson Contemplating Surgery, Could Be Out Till August

I didn’t like it, you didn’t like it, but Brian Cashman liked it.

When Cashman signed 32-year-old 1B/DH Nick Johnson to a one-year, $5.5 million deal over the offseason, you could sense problems coming.

Sure enough, Johnson was placed on the DL May 8th due to an inflamed wrist, his 10th trip in nine seasons.

Johnson was given a cortisone shot to his wrist last week, but results won't show for a few weeks.

“It’s my intention to learn if [the shot] worked as soon as possible,” Cashman said Saturday. “If not, then we want to go right to the surgery. When healthy, we know what this guy can do, but he can’t do anything for us right now.”

What this guy has done this season is bat .167 with two home runs, eight RBI, and an on-base percentage of .388.

Surgery to remove the inflamed tissue in his wrist would leave him out for four to six weeks on top of the month he’s already scheduled to miss. We’ll either see him mid-June with the wrist still bothering him or in August when the playoff race heats up.

Thoughts

I hated this deal from the moment I learned about the signing. I think every Yankee fan knew something would go wrong with Johnson this season. All this means is Marcus Thames and Randy Winn will get more playing time until he comes back.

But it also means a minor league player will probably remain on the roster. We’ve seen Juan Miranda called up, but if he doesn’t hit don’t rule out the possibility of seeing Jesus Montero in a Yankee uniform.

Another possibility is Jermaine Dye, who is still jobless. Yes, he is a righty, but he can smash the ball and would be a perfect fit for the short porches at Yankee Stadium.

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