Greg Bird Returns To Yankees On Minor League Deal
The bird will be the word once more.
Former top prospect First baseman Greg Bird has opted out of his minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to sign a minor league deal to return to the Yankees. Bird will report to the Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
WFAN’s Sweeney Murti was the first to report on Bird’s reunion with the Yankees.
It was not too long ago that Bird was a part of the Yankees’ long-term plans. However, injuries derailed what initially started off as a promising career for the 29-year-old.
Bird made his big-league debut in August of 2015 and saw immediate success. Through his first 46 career games, Bird slashed .261/.343/.529 with an .871 OPS, 11 home runs and 31 RBI to help the Yankees clinch an American League Wild Card berth.
At the time, Bird and fellow rookie counterpart across town, former Met Michael Conforto, were viewed as the next two young rising stars in New York.
Unfortunately for Bird, a recurring shoulder injury led to the discovery of a torn labrum in 2016, which required surgery and forced him to miss the entire season. Bird later underwent foot surgery in 2017, before undergoing ankle surgery the following year. In April of 2019, it was discovered that Bird had a left plantar fascia tear, which knocked him out for the rest of the year.
The Yankees designated Bird for assignment in November of 2019, which ended his first stint with the Bronx Bombers. Bird’s most notable moment as a Yankee came in Game 3 of the 2017 ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians when he took elite reliever Andrew Miller deep for what ultimately turned out to be a game-winning home run in a 1-0 victory.
Since leaving the Yankees three years ago, Bird has bounced around on minor league deals with the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies and most recently the Blue Jays.
Bird put together a monstrous campaign for the Rockies’ Triple-A team in 2021, slugging 27 homers, driving in 91 RBI, and posting a .894 OPS across 112 games.
Bird will serve as a depth piece in the minors and could find his way back to the Bronx at some point if the major league club needs a backup first baseman.
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