On Ty Hensley's Shoulder "Abnormalities"

(Need to get some navy and white on this kid, stat!)

There was very little real drama to the Ty Hensley signing last Friday.  It was reported early in the week that the sides had wrapped up negotiations, and the signing going down to the final day before being announced as official was more Hensley's agent doing his job than anything.  Hensley made it clear very early that he intended to sign with the Yankees, and there was never anything that came up in the time since then that should have caused anybody to think that wasn't going to be the eventual endgame.  The ink has dried, Hensley is a Yankee, and now we can hopefully see him in action in a SS league and start to get an idea of where he fits in the Yankee prospect hierarchy.

What did cause a little bit of drama to stir up was the report from Jim Callis that Hensley went for a pre-deal MRI that showed some "abnormalities" in his pitching shoulder.  This discovery likely led to Hensley signing for a below-slot $1.2 million, and was quickly dismissed as nothing major.  But should we be concerned about our fresh new 1st-rounder?


Simply put, I don't think so.  There have been no reports beyond the initial diagnosis of "abnormalities" that make the MRI results out to be anything serious.  Hensley is not reported to be feeling any kind of discomfort in his shoulder, and if there were something serious lingering there beneath the surface, surely something would have come up during the scouting period before the draft that would have clued the Yankees in.  The reality is that there probably aren't many pitchers out there, high school, college, professional, or otherwise, who don't have "abnormalities" show up on the MRIs to their pitching shoulders.  Pitching is an unnatural motion for the human arm to make, and every pitch puts stress on the shoulder.  He's a young kid, and his body is still maturing.  It happens.

If the results of Hensley's MRI were something serious enough for the Yankees to be concerned, I think the Yankees would have offered far less than the $1.2 million that Hensley signed for.  Yes, it's below slot value, but just enough to signify that the Yankees were aware of the results and of the slight bargaining leverage it gave them.  They would be stupid not to use that leverage, and Hensley would have been equally stupid to not take $1.2 million.  It's worth keeping in the back of our minds as Hensley begins his Yankee career, but not enough where I think we should be worried about him right now.

At the end of the day, the Yankees were able to sign a player with talent above his draft slot level of 30 for less-than-slot-level money.  That's a win.