Yankees: The Trials Of Riding The Third Rail In Spring Training

The Yankees Spring Training camp has been marked by a winning presence and some talented young players who are fighting for recognition.

Some Yankees players, however, are riding on the third rail and are destined for another time. How they react to their demotion determines both the team’s and their future.

The Yankees have a plethora of young talent available to choose from in composing their 25-man roster this year. We’ve talked about it before, but now it’s getting very near crunch time when, in the old vernacular, the men will be separated from the boys.

But often, especially for many of us who are on the outside looking in, we forget that these are human beings and not robots who take the field to entertain us every night.

The Human Side Of  Baseball

You may recall, for instance, when Wilmer Flores, the shortstop for the Mets in 2015, mistakenly thought he had been traded to the Brewers for Carlos Gomez in the middle of a game and he became visibly shaken and even crying while on the field at his shortstop position.

It’s a compelling moment, and you can watch it here:

Yankees players will soon feel the similar pain. Cuts will begin as soon as this week and players are listed on the transaction wire as “designated for assignment.” Most will know where they are going, but a few will not, and their assignment will read, “Report to the Minor League camp in Tampa until further notice.”

By the time they’ve reached this level, ballplayers are familiar with the weeding out process. Except for the one thing that, for most, will be new, as well as challenging. Because in the past, they’ve always been “weeded in” and not out. All the way from Little League thru high school, travel leagues, college, and the lower minors, they’ve always made “the cut.”

And one by one, they’ll be summoned to Girardi’s office where he gets tasked with delivering the bad new to each player who sits opposite him.

Yankees Faced With Heady Decisions

But at this moment in time, for whatever reasons, they have “reached their Harvard,” at least in the minds of Yankees scouts, Joe Girardi, and Brian Cashman.

Plain and simple, for most it’s a demotion. And one by one, they’ll be summoned to Girardi’s office where he gets tasked with delivering the bad new to each player who sits opposite him.

Girardi will “read” each player’s reaction and file (at least) a mental report of how each player receives the news. Because at this juncture, it’s a tossup as to which way a player goes.

Does he say, “Okay sir, watch for me because I’ll be back” or does he get a bit angry saying, “You’re making a mistake, and you know what, I think I picked the wrong organization to sign with”?

Some of the younger players already know their destiny, at least for the beginning of the 2017 season. Gleyber Torres, for example, knows that he will report to Double-A Trenton to begin the season and progress from there like the steamroller he’s been.

And James Kaprielian will probably remain behind in Tampa as the Yankees continue to nurse him back from injury.

However, others not so much. Jorge Mateo, who already made some waves in the Yankees organization when he disputed a promotion another player received, with his actions ultimately leading to a suspension, will be closely watched when he is eliminated from the 25-man roster.

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Others like Billy McKinney, who, at times, has dazzled this spring,  will probably take the punch standing up and report for duty once again with the Trenton Thunder with hopes of moving up to Triple-A Scranton- Wilkes Barre in a short amount of time.

With the Yankees starting pitching rotation set at least for the beginning of the season, the team’s future rotation will take their respective places at Double-A or Triple-A to begin the season. This group would include pitchers like Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, James Montgomery, and possibly Adam Warren and Chad Green if the Yankees don’t see them as members of the bullpen to start the season.

None of these players pose any threat to becoming a thorn in the Yankees side for the moment. The demotion will hurt, but each of them knows that the organization sees a place for them on the team shortly.

There’s a small chance that one or more of the players mentioned above could make the grade and move north with the team, but at this point, it would be best if each began to prepare themselves, at least mentally,  for the inevitable blurb that will appear on MLB Transactions with their name listed.

Yankees: It’s Beginning To Look A Little Crowded Around Here

The Yankees have a big problem. They don't have room for the talent they've assembled. The chance of having disgruntled players looms large.

Fortunately for the Yankees, they have a good crop of young talent who will see the glass half-full even when it looks like it’s half-empty.