Miguel Andujar is not one to complain about minor aches and pains, choosing to keep any marginal discomfort to himself. When the Yankees' third baseman reported shoulder soreness Monday morning, then, there was immediate concern, justified later in the day when Andujar was diagnosed with a labrum tear.
It's still possible that Andujar won't need surgery this summer to repair it. But it's also possible that he will need the procedure that would end his season, and the depth the Yankees bolstered in the offseason will immediately be tested. Aaron Boone already has some safety nets on his roster to help with that, with DJ LeMahieu performing even better than expected defensively at third, now fully prepared to assume a lot of the playing time.
The Yankees expect Didi Gregorius will be back sometime in the middle of the summer. If Troy Tulowitzki is playing well when Gregorius returns, the Yankees could use Tulowitzki in more of a hybrid role, shifting him to third base for some at-bats, or use him in the super-utility role initially planned for LeMahieu. The Yankees also have Tyler Wade, who has logged 66 games in the big leagues. There's no reason -- yet -- for Yankees GM Brian Cashman to panic, and with more than two decades on the job and plenty of experience in seeing how teams adapt through injuries, he probably won't overreact, and almost certainly not now, when the trade prices would be enormous, before the midsummer slide.
But if Andujar is lost for the season and other injuries pop up, the Yankees would have to at least start to examine what trade options might be available through the season, and there would be plenty.