4 former Yankees shining in spring training to the frustration of fans

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Though the ire directed at Isiah Kiner-Falefa during his tenure in New York wasn't his fault, that doesn't make him performing well with the division-rival Blue Jays any less frustrating. IKF was largely a drag as a Yankee, so to see him batting .333 with an .889 OPS across his first nine spring games makes you want to smash the nearest lamp.

IKF was played out of position for the entirety of his time with the Yankees. Cashman thought he could be the team's full-time shortstop in 2022, which was deranged. Then, in 2023, he served mainly as an outfielder, despite never playing the pastures at any point in his MLB career.

The result was lackluster defense (for a glove-first player) and a .253 average across 255 games. IKF was believed to have possessed a contact bat that had a chance of thriving in a talented Yankees lineup stacked with hitters. Instead, IKF got worse after a career year, and ended up having the bat in his hands for far too many important moments.

Just watch the Blue Jays utilize him correctly, only for the Donaldson-IKF trade with the Twins look even more disastrous. We'd be happy for IKF. We'd be even more infuriated with Cashman.