Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman told Chad Jennings of the Journal News that the surgery was "related" to the one Heathcott had last offseason, and there is no timetable for his recovery other than that he is out for the year.

"We're hoping he'll get healthy," Newman told Jennings. "Beyond that, I don't really have expectations now. He's had a hard time staying on the field. He works at it, so we've got that going for us."

Heathcott spent the final month of last season (including the Double-A Trenton Thunder's run to the Eastern League title) because of right knee tendinopathy and a small meniscus tear, and he had minor knee surgery to correct it this past winter.

He missed all of spring training and the first six weeks of the season recovering from the surgery, and once activated on May 15, he played just nine games for the Thunder - hitting .182 (6-for-33) with one RBI and four runs scored - before going on the disabled list once again on May 30.

Now 23, Heathcott was the Yankees' first-round pick (No. 29 overall) in the 2009 Draft out of Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas, and he was added to the Yankees' 40-man roster last winter.