Yankees Rumors: Mark Teixeira Aiming For Weekend Return

New York Yankees Rumors: Mark Teixeira opted against surgery earlier in the month, and it looks like, for now, that was the right decision as he nears his return.

New York Yankees rumors have been revolving around their bullpen recently, as many teams are interested in acquiring some of the Yankees relief pitching talent. But, the most recent rumor does not involve trade talks, but instead the return of an injured player.

Mark Teixeira has been dealing with knee pain for a majority of the season, and it came to a head earlier in June. Teixeira was diagnosed with torn cartilage in his left knee in June 4th, and has been sidelined since.

There was some concern in the early going that the injury could be season ending and require surgery. But, Teixeira was not for going under the knife, and opted instead to rehab the injury. It looks like he made the right decision, as Teixeira is healing quicker than anyone thought that he could.

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“We didn’t really know what to expect, but we were hoping for the best-case scenario and so far it has been,” Teixeira said the other day. Teixeria is right about the best-case scenario occurring, as he is ready to return to the field this week.

Teixeira has been pushing to begin his rehab assignment as he has been feeling much better. He has been running pain free for multiple days, and was ready to push his rehab to the next step. That next step will start tonight, as Teixeira will get his wish and begin his rehab assignment.

Teixeira will play with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre starting tonight, and will play there on Wedensday and Thursday as well. After that, if all goes well, Teixeira is hoping to make a return to the major league club.

“He’ll probably be off Friday and then (play for the Yankees on) Saturday, hopefully,” Girardi added Sunday morning prior to the Yankees loss to the Minnesota Twins. All of these plans are conducive on Teixeira making it through without any setbacks, which is not a guarantee.

While Teixeira has been running without pain recently, he will still be playing with torn cartilage in the knee; he decided against surgery, so the knee is just rested, but not repaired. As a result, expect Teixeira to be a part time player upon his return to the major league club, whether it be this weekend against the Twins or later down the line.

No one knows what to expect once Teixeira returns to the field, as they can only hope for the best. “You never know,” Teixeira said. “Obviously that’s the goal. I’ve got kind of messed up cartilage in both knees and you just have to manage it. You can play with soreness all the time. I just gotta make sure my knee doesn’t lock up. As long as my knee doesn’t lock up, I should be all right.”

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The Yankees are hoping that he can avoid any more problems, as first base has been a problem injury wise for the team all season. In the meantime, the Yankees have been using Rob Refsnyder and the recently signed Ike Davis to replace Teixeira at first base.

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