Former Baby Bomber Ben Gamel Will Finally Get His Shot in Seattle

While it’s disappointing to see promising outfielder Ben Gamel traded by the Yankees, it’s ultimately what’s best for him as a player.

Triple-A outfielder Ben Gamel has arguably been the most productive player in the Yankees minor league system over the past two years. For the fans who were hoping to see him finally get a real shot in the Bronx this September, Wednesday’s trade that sent him to the Seattle Mariners for two teenage pitchers was at least mildly devastating.

Since the beginning of the 2015 season, Gamel has compiled an impressive .307/.363/.448 (133 wRC+) for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders. The day before the trade he was honored by the International League with their Player of the Year award. He had also been named the league’s Rookie of the Year the previous season.

A 10th round pick in the 2010 June amateur draft, Gamel was seen as MiLB roster filler for most of his professional career. However, his last two seasons have put him in line to get a real opportunity to crack a big league lineup.

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With their youth movement in full swing, it seemed at least plausible that New York would once again shop Brett Gardner this winter, opening up the everyday leftfield job for 2017.If that happened, Gamel would be one of the primary candidates to fill the position. He’s already on the 40 man roster and seemingly has nothing left to prove in the minors.

Apparently the Yankees were not convinced. The team has a number of very similar, big league ready outfielders in the system. They may have felt like they were selling high on Gamel, whose scouting report doesn’t really support the stat line he’s been producing.

If New York felt Gamel was playing over his head and were not planning on giving him an actual shot next season, it’s probably better for both parties that they part ways.

There figures to be much more opportunity for Gamel with the Mariners. At the moment, RosterResource lists Seattle’s “Go-To” outfield alignment as Leonys Martin, Seth Smith, and Guillermo Heredia. That’s…not great. Two of those three guys (Smith and Heredia) have been about replacement level this year. Gamel could have the starting job in left by next week.

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Hopefully this move doesn’t come back to bite the Yankees, but on some level it’s nice to see a guy who fans have followed through the system finally get his chance at the major league level. It’s Gamel’s career after all.