Yankees Rob Refsnyder: False Starts, False Hopes, New Life

The Yankees once had a player in their organization who averaged .294 over six seasons in the minors, with a .380 OBP and a .811 OPS. He played parts of three seasons for the big club but never played enough to get unraveled. This is his story.

The Yankees made a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays the other day that mostly, but not surprisingly, slipped under the radar. The trade sent Rob Refsnyder to the Jays in exchange for first baseman  (yes, another one) Ryan McBroom.

McBroom may not raise much dust in Toronto, but Refsnyder had an unspoken pact with much of the Yankees fan base. And most of it was due to Refsnyder being the one-time centerpiece of the Yankees farm system, which for all practical purposes didn’t even exist except for the fact they manned teams up and down the East Coast each year.

And whenever there was a reporter asking about the Yankees depleted minor league system, there was always someone from the front office who would attempt to stop them in their tracks with reminders of how great this kid Refsnyder is and how you’ll see him wearing the pinstripes in a matter of weeks.

Not everyone in this game is Aaron Judge

Well, that never happened. And maybe it was a cultural thing relating to Refsnyder’s heritage in South Korea and coming from a part of the world we don’t fully understand, where elders and those “above you” command automatic and non-retreating respect. Andmaybe  Refsnyder never heard the riff-raff spread by Leo Durocher that “nice guys finish last.”

Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that Refsnyder never took hold of the few chances he was given when called up by the Yankees, managing to hit only .241 with two home runs and seventeen driven in over 262 plate appearances.

But whatever it was, and much like his lifelong teammate, Mason Williams, Refsnyder was never given an opportunity at the major league level. Instead, he became the Yankees go-to guy when they needed someone for a few days to spell an injured, but not ready for the DL, player.

Refsnyder was, for the Yankees, the true “railrider” who made the trip from Scranton to the Bronx and back, and back again on one or two occasions, always thrown into the lineup in a hurry, then removed just as quickly.

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Make no mistake. This writer understands that baseball is a business first, part of the entertainment industry second, and a church only third. But that doesn’t mean that as fans we can’t relate at times to what these ballplayers go through at times. And maybe that’s because most of us have been knocked down and kicked around ourselves a few times. And not everyone is Aaron Judge in this game.

Rob Refsnyder, though, says he is happy about the new lease on life that’s been given to him. The Buffalo News, which reports on the Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays and where Refsnyder is now playing, quotes Refsnyder, explaining his tenure with the Yankees:

“In my situation I knew I was an insurance policy. I mean, I had never played first base last year and they threw me at first base,” Refsnyder said. “I definitely knew I was an insurance policy and if somebody got hurt I would go up and kinda just fill a bench spot for a couple days or whatever it was. Never knew what position I was going to play. So it’s refreshing to come here and get a new start and I’m looking forward to it.”

But while you get the feeling that Refsnyder always knew what he was when he with the Yankees, there’s still a spark in him that says to himself and everyone, I can be a major league ballplayer. It won’t hurt that Bison’s manager Bobby Meacham sees the upside either:

“We’re hoping to get him comfortable at second, I want to see him just get some comfort level out there so he can relax. I always like to say to the infielders, ‘when you’re playing out there I want you to get comfortable so you can just worry about hitting.’ That’s kind of what I’m thinking — making him feel comfortable at second, give him some time out there and then just worry about getting his hitting right.”

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Whatever the future holds for Refsnyder, Yankees fans can only hope there doesn’t come a time when he seizes the opportunity to take his wrath out on the Yankees while wearing the new colors of his Blue Jays uniform.