Greg Bird is healthy and happy heading into a fresh start with the Texas Rangers after a string of injury-filled seasons with the Yankees.

The Rangers’ starting first base job is open, and Bird will get an opportunity to earn the spot this spring even though the lefty-swinging slugger will be in camp as a non-roster player after signing a minor-league deal on Feb. 4.

“American League, good opportunity, good team,” Bird, whose 2019 season consisted of just 10 April games due to a plantar fascia tear, told Rangers beat writers in Surprise, Ariz. “A team that has a chance to compete and win. That’s what I want to be a part of.

“Everything kind of played out. I’ve never been through that. I didn’t even know about [the Rangers] in the beginning. We weren’t really even talking about this at all. But as the off-season goes, pieces fall, guys go here and there, this one presented itself and it was good.”

Bird’s competition at first base is Ronald Guzman, an elite fielder with right-hander power who has struggled at the plate.

If Bird stays healthy – that’s always been his issue – he could begin the season as the Rangers starter at first or platooning with Guzman, who has hit .229 with 26 homers and 94 RBI over 210 games in his two-season big-league career.

Bird, 27, was viewed as the Yankees’ first baseman of the future when he hit .261 with 11 homers over 46 games as a rookie in 2015 filling in for injured starter Mark Teixeira.

Unfortunately for Bird, he had few highlights over the next four years due to a bunch of injuries that began before the 2016 season when he had surgery to repair a shoulder labrum tear.

After sitting out a full season, Bird returned in 2017 with a starting job in hand because Teixeira had retired only to suffer a foot injury that led to two surgeries in two years and just 130 games played from ’17-18. By last spring, his injuries contributed to Luke Voit having the inside track at the starting job. Both began the season with the Yankees, but while Voit was putting up big numbers early on, Bird was done for the season by April due to the plantar fascia issue that was a lot worse than he had first anticipated.

Compounding matters for Bird, he didn’t produce much when he was healthy in recent years, as he hit just .194 with 21 homers in 140 games from 2017-19.

In November, Bird and the Yankees cut ties when he opted for free agency after he was designated for assignment and then passed on an offer to stay in the organization as a non-roster player.

Bird learned a lot dealing with all of his adversity, and he hopes these life lessons help him during his new opportunity with the Rangers.

“It’s been difficult at times,” Bird said. “It’s not what I would want, but that’s life. In that way, I guess it’s been a good learning experience. It’s all been confusing at times, but that’s how it goes. It teaches you that mindset that you just have to get up and do your thing, keep on trucking and focusing on that day.”

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.