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Yankees: Two Prospects Recovering From Team Spankings

By Steve Contursi

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The Yankees once saw it necessary to give two of their top prospects a good spanking for their behavior at the minor league level. Fortunately, though, it worked, and the issues that sparked the disciplinary measures largely remain in the past.

The Yankees do not have an official code of conduct for their players. But, like most teams, there in a built-in code that surrounds what is commonly called “Yankees Tradition” that speaks volumes as to what is expected.

Recently, for example, Clint Frazier reined himself in to be in conformance with the “no hair below the shoulders” request. And at one point in his career, Don Mattingly challenged the hair policy and was benched along with four other Yankees.

But generally, the Yankees treat their players in their farm system differently, almost like the players there are attending kindergarten where they learn to live by certain rules. And when a player deviates from what is expected, he is quickly brought back into the fold.

We have to give these young players a blueprint. (Alex Rodriguez)

Both Gary Sanchez and Jorge Mateo have had disciplinary measures taken against them by the Yankees at the minor league level. In each instance, details of the specific violations were not made public, but it is known that their actions were severe enough for the team to call attention to their behavior.

The Yankees vs. Gary Sanchez

In the case of Sanchez, the incident occurred when he was with Double-A Trenton in 2014 and resulted in a five-game suspension. At the time, Sanchez was not the player he is now, and he was experiencing serious lapses behind the plate. His work ethic, to improve on those deficiencies, apparently was lacking. His manager, Tony Franklin, imposed the suspension, commenting at the time:

"“It was disciplinary action,” Franklin said. “I needed to take care of that today, to get things clarified and cleared up. I’m not going to tell you what it was, but it was a violation of some of our guidelines and I needed to take care of it. Gary is out of there for a couple of days until we decide he deserves to play again, plain and simple.”— The Trentonian, Nick Peruffo"

We’ll never know for sure, but that kick in the butt delivered by Franklin could turn out to be prophetic. Because if, the career of Sanchez continues to develop as most expect it to, and Franklin is first on the list of people he’d like to thank when Sanchez gives his speech at home plate when his number is retired by the Yankees two decades from now.

The Yankees vs. Jorge Mateo

The incident involving Mateo is more recent and was reported on in a story published by Yanks Go Yard seven months ago.

Again, details revolving around the incident are sparse as is customary, but George King of the New York Post speculated at the time that:

"“Mateo may have been suspended after complaining to Yankees officials that he hadn’t been promoted to Double-A. He also hinted that there may have been another infraction that led to the suspension.”"

A bit later, the New York Post added more detail:

"“Frustrated he hadn’t been promoted from Tampa (Single-A) to Trenton (Double-A) and watching teammate and fellow infielder Miguel Andujar get that promotion, Mateo popped off to Yankee brass and suggested the organization release a player in Trenton to make room for him.”"

Mateo was given an extraordinary two-week suspension that led to his missing the Futures Game that is held annually for top level prospects during the All-Star break.

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While Sanchez is expected to be a fixture in the Yankees lineup for years to come, Mateo’s future is not nearly as cemented. Did Gregorius, currently holds the shortstop position and based on last year’s performance doesn’t appear to be giving it up anytime soon.

Behind Gregorius are Tyler Wade, who will man the post at Triple-A this season, and the elephant in the room, Gleyber Torres who just keeps coming faster than a locomotive.

Of significance, however, is a report by John Harper, writing in the New York Daily News who cites this comment made by Brian Cashman:

"“That was a false report,’’ Cashman said. “None of that ever happened. We didn’t reveal why we did what we did, but I can tell you it had nothing to do with anything like that.”"

A-Rod Shows The Way

The real kicker, though, comes from Alex Rodriguez, who gave this dissertation that leaves little wonder as to why he is a self-described “born teacher” (also from the NY Daily News report):

"“We have to give these young players a blueprint,’’ A-Rod said. “We have to be able to judge our players on the preparation and actually executing the blueprint. If we do that, then the world-class talent is going to show. It’s important to reward them for following the blueprint. Because even if you hit .230, we are thrilled because ultimately, like an investment, in the long run we’re building a foundation that will pay dividends."

Rodriguez was just getting warmed up, though, and he went on to add to his lesson plan:

"“But if you’re out at clubs every night, and you have no routine, then you have no foundation and you’re dead. You can go from prospect to suspect in 18 months. It happens to a lot of people.’’A-Rod made it clear he wasn’t speaking about any specific player or players. But, like Cashman, he also made it clear that he sees huge potential in Mateo.“There’s not a person in this camp who has more talent than Jorge Mateo,’’"

You can’t get a better endorsement than that. And unlike Sanchez, Mateo is a long way away from stepping into the Yankees lineup given the crowded field of shortstops they have.

Next: This Week In Yankees History

And it remains to be seen if both men were benefited by the spanking the Yankees gave them on their way to the major leagues. Sanchez would appear to have a leg up on Mateo, but as A-Rod said about Mateo, “there’s not a player in this camp who is more talented.” But as we know, talent can only take you so far……

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