New York Yankees Assessing Other Options With No Timetable For Slugger's Return

The New York Yankees are just a few weeks from getting started with the regular season, but there's one giant elephant in the room - or rather missing from the room - when it comes to their lineup.

With an ongoing saga surrounding the health of designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees are finding themselves in a tough spot. Stanton left the team last week to go back to New York for what was initially reported as further testing on the tendonitis he is dealing with in both elbows.

Then, manager Aaron Boone told the media Stanton being away from camp was due to a "personal" matter and not related to the injury. Further stating on Thursday that he does not know when Stanton is going to return to the team only offering "hopefully soon" as an answer, it seems the team could be trying to sugar coat just how bad the issues are.

Stanton has always struggled to stay healthy during his time with the Yankees, though having him return to be the team's best hitter in the playoffs during the World Series run reminded everyone of just how great he can be when he's at his best.

As unfortunate as it is, New York is relying on the veteran slugger immensely in order help carry the offensive load, and Stanton being out for any sort of extended period of time is going to be incredibly detrimental.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post (subscription required) provided a negative sounding update for the status of the former MVP.

"There’s no timetable yet on Yankees star DH Giancarlo Stanton, who’s sidelined with painful tendon issues in both elbows and undergoing testing they’re characterizing as unrelated back in New York," Heyman wrote. "But with Stanton unable to do any baseball activity and in New York, it seems very unlikely he’ll be ready for Opening Day and could possibly be out for weeks."

Interestingly, Heyman would further reveal the Yankees have "had some contact" with former Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets free agent designated hitter J.D. Martinez, however their belief that Stanton will return complicates that possibility given the fact both players at this stage in their career are relegated to a DH only role.

It's a difficult situation for New York.

Stanton is dealing with an injury which prevents him from even swinging a baseball bat right now and even in a best case scenario may well be out for the first month of the season, but it seems like the team genuinely does not know what the outlook is.

Someone like Martinez - who would likely be ready and willing to sign at a reasonable price on a one-year deal - is right there for the taking and there isn't room for both on the roster or on the payroll for that matter.

Internally, the chance exists they could shuffle things around in the outfield and move defensively struggling rookie Jasson Dominguez to Stanton's role and figure out another possible option to hold down left field for the time being.

Regardless of what Boone decides to do, this state of affairs has officially become a complete mess.

The Yankees would be wise to continue to assess all options both externally and internally, because there does not seem to be an end in near site when it comes to the ongoing health problems of their highly paid slugger.

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