Oswald Peraza's farewell message puts a heartbreaking period on Yankees tenure

Tucked between the swirling trade winds at the end of deadline day that brought the Yankees Camilo Doval and Jose Caballero was a deal that shipped former top prospect Oswald Peraza out of town.

Peraza entered the big-league picture with plenty of Top 100 shine. Yankee fans clamored for his arrival during a summer of 2022 slump, only for his debut to be maximum levels of disrespectful, a pinch-hitting appearance in the ninth inning of a blowout loss in Tampa Bay on Sept. 2 (he struck out).

Though a small sample size, he debuted with aplomb from that point forward; it's easy to forget now he hit .306 with an .832 OPS in 18 games before being rushed into the starting lineup (at shortstop) in a road ALCS game in Houston. That decision was handled poorly, but ... it wasn't ridiculous. He'd earned the spotlight (as the Yankees ripped at the seams).

In the nearly three years at that followed, though, there was somehow nary a positive blip on Peraza's ledger. He hit .191 and .152 in two "full" seasons in 2023 and 2025, barely earning a cameo appearance in 2024. The Yankees had reached the end of their rope back in March, but somehow managed to keep the out-of-options Peraza around until the trade deadline, when they received a wild card teenaged prospect in exchange for his services, sending him to the Angels. On Thursday's off day, Peraza finally took to social media, filing a farewell post directed at the organization that seemed to quickly lose faith in him.

Peraza's message did not reflect ill will or a feeling of brokenness and stunted development. He thanked the Yankees earnestly (we think) for helping him grow and develop, and lavished praise on the fans in the Bronx, who he had every right to be scornful towards instead.

Yankees' Oswald Peraza says goodbye to the organization that raised him in Instagram message

"Thank you for believing in me from day one, for shaping me as a player, for giving me the opportunity to grow, make mistakes, learn, and live moments I will never forget," Peraza wrote. He also called the Yankees a "family," and "above all" chose to thank the fans in the Bronx, whose "passion, demands, support and energy" were felt in every game and "every critique".

It was a kind missive from a player we all had high hopes for. But once his tenure derailed, it never approached the tracks again. Nothing but the best in Anaheim, where ideally he'll find another family that demands the best out of him.