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

Yes, it's that time of the year again. Look around the league. Find former New York Yankees players who completely stunk up the joint in the Bronx. And watcht them succeeding elsewhere. A tale as old as ... the last two decades, it would seem.

It's always like this. Whether the players are outwardly critical of New York or not, it always kills fans to see the relationship not work out for (mostly) reasons unknown or just plain bad luck.

And if we're looking back on 2023, there were plenty of inexplicable occurrences and unfortunate events that contributed to the Yankees' dismal 82-80 season. The fact of the matter was that the roster wasn't that good, but when there's an avalanche of factors actively working against you, it feels like injustice.

Had a few bounces gone the Yankees' way -- especially with most of these players -- we're probably looking at a 90-win team in the postseason, and a scary one with Aaron Judge leading the charge.

Instead? A missed opportunity with the reigning AL MVP and eventual Cy Young winner. What a waste. So let's get ourselves all worked up about the performances of these ex-Yankees.

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

Frankie Montas

Montas isn't exactly "shining," but he's done enough to -- wait for it -- earn the nod as the Cincinnati Reds' 2024 Opening Day starter. Frankie Montas. Starting for a potential NL contender. On Opening Day. In one of the most historic baseball cities. What is going on?

The Yankees acquired Montas during their promising 2022 season that eventually flamed out. New York knew the right-hander had been dealing with shoulder issues, but made the deal anyway. The result was Montas appearing in eight bad starts before his shoulder acted up again.

A lone postseason appearance didn't save him and, in fact, probably hurt him. Montas needed offseason shoulder surgery and missed all of 2024 (save for 1.1 innings of work, bringing his grand total to 41 in pinstripes). Now he's already impressed enough in Reds camp to earn manager David Bell's trust with the ball on Opening Day.

Give us a break.

Keynan Middleton

There's admittedly no ill-will towards Keynan Middleton, who was the Yankees' lone trade acquisition in 2023, which was viewed as borderline psychotic behavior by the front office because that roster either needed to go full buy mode or full sell mode. Brian Cashman opted to trade for a reliever and call it a day.

Middleton logged 13.1 innings before essentially missing the entire final month of the year (again, save for one inning on Sept. 29). The Yankees probably made the right call not bringing him back because he ended up costing the St. Louis Cardinals $6 million for 2024. The Yankees don't need to spend that kind of money on mid-relief arms, especially with how good they are at producing them on the cheap.

But now the Yankees' bullpen is going through it. Scott Effross, Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino are all injured, while Ron Marinaccio doesn't look like a serviceable player. Sure would've helped to have Middleton, who has tossed three scoreless frames this spring while allowing two hits and no walks.

Big thanks to Cash and Key for those 14 innings and no support beyond that.

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.