3 players from the 2021 Yankees who are failing miserably elsewhere

2. Albert Abreu

Since being traded just before the season began for Jose Trevino, Albert Abreu has already found his way to a third team in the past calendar year. Add in Trevino’s spark and productivity, and you get one hell of a mea culpa from the YGY staff, who erroneously believed the Yankees were making a mistake pulling the plug on the right-hander after finally making him productive in the back half of 2021 (2.51 ERA in Aug. 2021 with 17 Ks in 14.1 innings).

You want to talk peripherals?! Abreu is the anti-Nick Nelson thus far in 2022. A surface glance at his production in Texas and, post-DFA, Kansas City would make you believe he’s close to putting up the type of gaudy numbers the Yankees once envisioned. In 13 total innings, Abreu has struck out 12 at the big-league level. His ERA in Texas was 3.12, and it sits at 4.15 in Kansas City.

The only teeny, tiny issue? Abreu has walked the farm, allowing 16 free passes while hitting two batters. His season WHIP sits at an even 2.00, and his FIP is a ghastly 8.43. There’s nothing lying below the surface indicating the Yankees should’ve given him another glance this year. Add in the fact that he was out of options, and you’ve got an easy trade candidate, even if “all it netted” you was a third-string catcher.

That Trevino has become so much more has only handed the Yankees a bigger win here.

Sadly, the Brian McCann trade didn’t result in the next great fireballer joining the Bombers for their 2019-2020 playoff runs. Instead, it ironically ended up delivering a rock-solid catcher who thrives on intensity.

A real good news/bad news here, though, as the Yankees re-signed the recently-DFA’d Abreu on Tuesday. He struggled mightily elsewhere. Do they have the key to unlock … something and tamp those peripherals back down?