Yankees Jorge Mateo Disputes the Reason for His Suspension

Fans may not have gotten the true reason behind Jorge Mateo’s recent two week suspension according to multiple sources close to the Yankees’ top prospect (via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com).

At the time of the suspension, the Yankees announced the discipline was for “a violation of team policy” but declined to name the specific infraction. Soon after, George King of The New York Post cited a source who believed it may have been a result of an altercation between Jorge Mateo and team executives.

Mateo was reportedly upset that he had not been promoted from the High-A Tampa Yankees to Double-A Trenton, and even suggested a specific player on the Thunder could be released to make room for him (some have speculated it was disappointing former Yankees first round pick and current Trenton shortstop Cito Culver).

Kuty’s sources close to Mateo claim that this version of the story is not accurate, and there is a completely different reason for the suspension that has not been reported. According to the source, Mateo was suspended for something related to “an off-the-field issue the Yankees had already warned him about.

Late Saturday night, the Yankees top prospect tweeted the following message, but then quickly took it down:

“The Lie” he’s referring to is presumably the false report as to the reason for his suspension. It’s likely we will never know the actual story behind this situation, and that may be for the best. At the end of the day, 21-year-olds make mistakes.

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Mateo is still maturing, and has a lot of eyes on him as the future of one of the most popular franchises in sports. A few bumps along the way are to be expected. We can only hope that he learns from his mistakes.