The 2018-19 offseason got off on the wrong foot for the Yankees. During the annual end-of-season press conferences, the team announced Didi Gregorius tore his ulnar collateral ligament and needed Tommy John surgery. He had the surgery almost a month ago now, and it will sideline him early next season. It’s unclear when Gregorius will return. May? June? September? 2020? No one really knows.
Had the injury happened a year or two earlier, the Yankees would’ve signed the arbitration-eligible Gregorius to a one-year contract and moved forward with him like nothing ever happened. That isn’t the case now.