The New York Yankees announced earlier today that starting pitcher James Paxton will miss three to four months after removing a painful cyst.
We found out that this pain appeared last season, and was still there in January when he began his offseason throwing program. There was no other option but to remove the cyst now.
The injury is all beginning to make sense for the New York Yankees and their pitching staff.
Earlier in the offseason, there were rumors about the possibility of trading JA Happ. A few weeks ago, Brian Cashman shut down those trade rumors by saying that Happ will be the fifth starter. Cashman knew about the surgery concerns for Paxton, so that’s why he ended trade talks for Happ and shot down rumors.
There were also debates about if the Yankees kept Happ, whether it would be him or Jordan Montgomery as the fifth starter. But with Paxton gone until May or June, it appears as if both Montgomery and Happ will be in the rotation. It’s just a matter of who is fourth and who is fifth. The current starters are now:
-Gerrit Cole
-Masahiro Tanaka
-Luis Severino
-Jordan Montgomery
-JA Happ
Now, when Paxton gets healthy, it could still be possible that the Yankees trade Happ. Other teams need him more than the Yankees, especially if Jordan Montgomery is pitching as well as he did in 2017. Happ has one year and $17 million left on his contract.
With James Paxton injured, the Yankees starting pitching situation is beginning to make sense.