Yankees Jorge Mateo: How Low Can You Possibly Go?

The Yankees took their #4 Prospect out to the woodshed yesterday and gave him a whooping he’ll never forget. But the team needs to hope he does.

The Yankees cut Jorge Mateo yesterday sending him back into their minor league system. That is not news. What is news, however, is how far back into their system they sent him.

Mateo learned yesterday that he could keep his Spring Training apartment in Tampa because that’s where he’s going to begin the 2017 season. It could have been worse. He could have been designated for “Low” Class-A instead of the bone the Yankees threw him by sending him to “High” Class-A.

Joe Girardi tossed him another bone telling Dan Martin from the New York Post  how “mature” Mateo was in camp this year:

"“I thought he was very mature in camp,” Girardi said. “He had a great camp on the field, in the clubhouse, off the field. When I was 21 years old, I was doing some foolish things. I think he’s grown up. I don’t think he could have done much more.”"

This was a back-handed compliment aimed at Mateo based on his behavior last season, with one incident about a promotion he didn’t get resulting in a two-week suspension from the same team he’s joining now.

Cashman and Girardi need to be on target with Mateo. Because on the surface, this one is a real head-scratcher.

The Yankees also went through extra pain to label Mateo as a possible super-utility player for the team at some point in the future. Presumably, we’re to believe this was based on Mateo taking fly balls in center field during the spring.

Overlooked, however, is the fact that the Yankees already have Tyler Austin pegged for that role and they also have budding outfielders in Billy McKinney and Dustin Fowler competing and on the rise in their minor league system.

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Adding to what could be termed a charade is the fact that this is the first time (in my recollection) that Mateo has been spoken of like the Ben Zobrist to be for the Yankees.

The Yankees Pour It On

Girardi, unlike his usual stoicism in discussing these matters, was a regular motormouth yesterday. And he couldn’t stop himself from gushing praise and good will on Mateo:

"“I told him, ‘Wherever you go, it’s your job to go down and dominate because you’re a special talent,’ ’’ Girardi said. “In a way, it’s a real blessing to have the talent that he has, but it’s also a curse. [People] are always gonna watch every move you make, because they want to see what you’re gonna do.”"

And in the background, you could almost hear Mateo whispering to himself, “If I’m such a special talent, why am I not with the other guys in Trenton and Scranton-Wilkes Barre?”

Mateo didn’t help his cause in Spring Training, and all he could muster was hitting just .133 (3 for 22) with one home run, two RBIs and two runs scored.

A Real Head-Scratcher That Needs To Turn Out Right

This is only going to go one of two ways. Either the team has made a brilliant personnel decision and father does know best for Mateo, or they’ve just destroyed what remains of what appears to be a very fragile and confused young man.

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As always, I’ll go with those closest to the situation and hope that Cashman and Girardi are on target with Mateo. Because on the surface, this one is a real head-scratcher.