Yankees' Jacoby Ellsbury has season-ending surgery

Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury had hip surgery Monday in New York.

CHICAGO — The season that never was for underachieving, overpaid and unwanted Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury officially is over.

Finally!

Hip surgery was the final shutdown.

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After six months of rehabbing in Tampa from numerous injuries, Ellsbury had arthroscopic surgery Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York to repair a torn labrum in his left hip, the Yankees announced Tuesday afternoon.

Recovery time is six months, which should have Ellsbury healthy for the start of 2019 spring training.

It’ll be interesting to see if Ellsbury is still with the Yankees come February.

It’s certainly believed that the Yankees want nothing to do with Ellsbury, who has two more seasons and a buyout remaining on one of the worst contracts in sports history, $153 million for seven years.

Ellsbury, 34, made $21.14 million this year and didn’t play a game.

And if Ellsbury hadn’t been shut down in spring training, he would have begun the season as a reserve outfielder or off the team via a release or trade.

It won’t be easy finding a taker for Ellsbury, who still is owed $47.28 million after this season … another $21.14 million in 2019 and 2020 plus a $5 million buyout in 2021.

Besides that, Ellsbury’s skills have diminished to the point he lost this starting center fielder job to Aaron Hicks last season. Also, he’s more of a loner than a leader.

Ellsbury initially was shut down in February with a strained oblique before developing a hip issue, then a sore foot and then a bad back. While rehabbing at the Yankees’ spring training headquarters in Tampa, Ellsbury also was sent home twice due to the flu and another sickness.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman made one of the biggest mistakes of his long tenure in December 2013 when signing Ellsbury, who was a .297 hitter playing for the rival Boston Red Sox from 2007-2013 with a career 2011 season in which he hit .321 with 32 homers, 105 RBI and 39 steals.

The Ellsbury signing was a reaction to second baseman Robinson Cano using free agency to sign with the Seattle Mariners instead of re-signing with the Yankees.

Ellsbury had a good first season for the Yankees, hitting .271 with 16 homers, 70 RBI and 39 steals in 149 games, but his average numbers from 2015-17 dropped to .261, eight homers, 43 RBI and 21 steals.

His only stats this year were one hit in 14 at-bats over six Grapefruit League games, the first four from Feb. 23 to March 1 before his oblique issue surfaced and the final two in late March before he had a setback.

By April 10, Ellsbury’s hip was bothering him to the point that he was given a cortisone shot.

A lot of rest and rehabbing didn’t help, and now he’s done for the season for sure … and maybe done forever as a Yankee.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.