4 former Yankees failing miserably with their new teams in 2023

Tell you who won't be making this list: Sonny Gray and Joey Gallo, who tag-team mangled the Yankees on Monday night and are doing just fine, thanks. Cool. Glad to see it.

Those two prominent Bronx failures are enjoying a dual rejuvenation in Minnesota, but a number of recently-rostered Yankees aren't experiencing the same kind of rebirth on the other side.

We're sticking only to recent Yankees here, too. Apologies to Ian Kennedy, who has a 7.94 ERA out of the bullpen for the Texas Rangers at the age of 38 (did you know he was there?), but he doesn't exactly qualify for inclusion.

No, no. We're talking Yankees who were on the team or in the organization at some point in the past two years who haven't hit the same peaks elsewhere.

Just missed the list? Andrew Benintendi, who's hitting .290, but whose metrics indicate that's going to slide down a hill quickly. You can't "struggle" based only on metrics, though, and .290 would be pretty nice right about now, regardless of how that contract ends. Onward!

4 Yankees failing miserably with new teams in 2023

Rougned Odor

The San Diego Padres offense has not provided the thump expected of them entering the 2023 season. Not saying that's Rougned Odor's fault, but he hasn't contributed positively to the cause.

Odor was added just before the season on a minor-league deal, which you'd think would've made him window dressing in San Diego, especially after they polished off an entire infield's worth of $100+ million men this offseason. Nope! Somehow, he's finagled 30 at-bats and has secured ... three hits. Three! Two of them have been doubles. He's collected four walks. He's already been responsible for one reportedly dirty slide. All in a month's work for Odor, one of the weirdest Yankees of the past decade.

Hope he's getting involved in as many mound visits as possible while he's out there in Sunny SD, because this may not last forever.

Andrew Velazquez

This one's sad, simply because the hometown Bronx kid showing out and flashing the leather/occasional clutch hit was one of the only things that made 2021 fun. All in all, there were more stunningly low lows in '21 than there were memorable highs, from the catastrophic blown games in Boston and Houston to the Joey Gallo trade to the Wild Card Game thud. But Velazquez rapping his first MLB home run into the short porch and showing off his glovework ... worked. It worked so well that the Yankees ultimately started him at short in their one-game playoff appearance, which was indicative of roster mismanagement, but ... kind of, sort of felt right until it wasn't.

The argument can definitely be made that the Yankees should've brought him back for pennies and used him to back up Oswald Peraza, rather than paying Josh Donaldson's salary to secure Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but that's neither here nor there.

Now in Anaheim, one year after Velazquez played in 125 games and hit nine homers (and batted .196), hotshot rookie Zach Neto has grabbed the starting role and is unlikely to let go of it. That's left Velazquez in Triple-A Salt Lake with the Bees, where he's continued to swing an untenable stick. The 28-year-old has started the year 10-for-57 (.175) with two homers and five stolen bases.

Again ... he used to make things happen in New York, which is also where he seemed most comfortable. It would probably be more satisfying to have him occupy the last roster spot on the Yankees' bench/play the occasional center field that IKF's currently attempting. Alas, he's stuck in Salt Lake.

Jameson Taillon

Jameson Taillon deserves good thing, and a four-year, $68 million deal with the Chicago Cubs this offseason certainly qualifies.

Taillon proved during his two season's by Gerrit Cole's side that, while he was unlikely to ever mature into the high-upside second banana role that had been forecast for him back in the day, he was still a bulldog and innings-eating competitor. Let it never be forgotten that he went out on one ankle and held the Rays down in Game 162 of 2021, passing the baton to the bullpen and eventually paving the way for Aaron Judge's 1-0 walk-off.

He also won the biggest game of 2022, arguably, when he shut down the Rays again in mid-September to stem the tide and put the Yankees back on course. All in all, he went 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA in 177.1 innings, which we'd wager is far better than most fans remember. Pretty good 2021 pitching acquisition, especially when compared to Corey Kluber!

Sadly, his Cubs tenure has started off a little bumpier. After his most successful start yet (five innings, two hits, no runs, seven strikeouts at Dodger Stadium, which lowered his ERA to 4.50), Taillon hit the IL with a left groin strain, which he reportedly felt throwing on flat ground between starts. Are we ... sure he's not still on the Yankees?

Taillon was a certified dawg during his time in pinstripes, and we're confident the coffee-loving righty will bounce back. After all, he's already persevered through much worse.