Brian Cashman's Timeline of James Paxton's Injury Sounds Like Same Old Yankees Nonsense From 2019

This was supposed to be a happy offseason for Yankees fans. Mookie Betts was just traded out of the division, Gerrit Cole signed a massive contract to play in pinstripes, and all the momentum was pointing towards the team cruising into the playoffs in 2020.

Well no good thing comes easy, right? Yankees fans were blindsided today with news that James Paxton would miss three-to-four months of the season after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst in his back. The first thing that popped in to everyone's heads was "Why now?"

Well, Brian Cashman offered an explanation as to why Paxton didn't have the procedure earlier in the offseason.

Brian Cashman said that multiple doctors evaluated James Paxton after the season. They agreed to treat his back injury conservatively and did not recommend surgery. #Yankees were alerted about 4-6 weeks ago that Paxton was experiencing increased discomfort.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) February 5, 2020

Per Cashman, multiple doctors recommended conservative treatment on Paxton's back, and it was not anticipated that surgery would be a requirement. Unfortunately, things got worse as the offseason progressed, which forced the lefty to go under the knife.

Surgery is always the last option. You don’t just go cuttin’ if you don’t have to
— RM (@CindysSneaker) February 5, 2020

Yankee faithful will be desperate to avoid a repeat of the injury-riddled 2019 campaign, but the early ailment to Paxton is just about as bad a start as things could have gotten off to.