Surgery sits pitching prospect Manny Banuelos for all of 2013

A few weeks ago, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said his hope was that top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos would be healthy enough to be sent to the Arizona Fall League.

The 21-year-old lefthander is being sent for surgery instead.

The Yankees announced Tuesday that Banuelos, shut down with elbow soreness in May after going 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts with Triple-A Scranton, will have Tommy John surgery Thursday in Pensacola, Fla. Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery, which is expected to keep Banuelos out for the entire 2013 season. "It's not what you want to see out of your young players that you think have a bright future for you," Joe Girardi said. "But a lot of guys have had setbacks and went on to have great careers, so he has an opportunity to heal up, get strong and be a factor after that. I'm sure it's frustrating for him, it's frustrating for us, but you have to make the most of it."

Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters Monday "that's not something I'm concerned about right now," when asked if jobs were on the line if the Yankees' season were to end abruptly, either in a one-game playoff or a bad ALDS loss. Girardi said in his conversations with Steinbrenner, job security hasn't come up.

"I don't expect him to relay anything to me," Girardi said. "I have a job to do and I understand what my job is, and I just go to work."

Girardi said he talks to Steinbrenner every couple of weeks, whether things are going well or poorly. "We've talked about our club and some of the concerns and things that are going well during the course of the season, but that's pretty normal," Girardi said.

Girardi said if the Yankees clinched the division last nightTuesday night, it wasn't for certain he'd start Hiroki Kuroda in todayWednesday's season finale.

"I don't know," Girardi said. "That's something I would have to think about."

The 37-year-old has thrown a career-high 2122/3 innings this season and though by all accounts he's healthy, the Yankees would like to get him a breather, if possible.

But No. 1 is important