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4 players the Yankees gave up on too soon

By Adam Weinrib |
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St. Louis Cardinals v Pittsburgh Pirates / Joe Sargent/GettyImages
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Give the New York Yankees credit: typically, they identify the right players to trade, even when it looks like they've thinned out their depth in some harmful way. Look at the Frankie Montas trade. Objectively, Montas as been a poor acquisition, but we'll let you Google Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears' early stats.

We don't have the heart.

In fact, the more common Yankees disorder involves pulling the plug too late on players rather than too soon. They sat on Miguel Andújar and Clint Frazier until both players had been significantly devalued; Frazier because of forces beyond his control, and Andújar because they didn't have the fortitude to get a deal done after his Rookie of the Year-esque 2018 season.

There are a few players over the past decade, though, who could've helped the Yankees, if only the team had properly evaluated them (or decided to get rid of Brooks Kriske at the right moment in history).

4 players the New York Yankees gave up on too soon

Jose Quintana, LHP

In the truest definition of this article's headline, the Yankees just ... gave up on Jose Quintana in the early stages of his development.

They didn't deal him for a failed veteran. They didn't toss him into a trade as an enticing fourth piece, only to later realize what they'd done. They just ... let him walk as a minor-league free agent. Free as a bird.

In 2011, he went 10–2 with a 2.91 ERA for the Tampa Yankees as a 22-year-old. That was his final act in pinstripes; he entered minor-league free agency following the season, and two White Sox scouts who liked what they saw in the Florida State League tapped their GM on the shoulder until he acted. Wisely.

He made his MLB debut that very same season, tossing 5.2 innings of shutout relief as the 26th man on a doubleheader's roster. That's right. The same left-hander who dominated A-ball in 2011 tamed big-league hitters in 2012, but the Yankees didn't see the correlation.

Quintana threw 200+ innings in each of the next four seasons, making the All-Star team and finishing 10th in the Cy Young chase in 2016. At the same time, the Yankees were running out patchwork rotation pieces from Freddy Garcia to David Phelps. What could've been.

Garrett Whitlock, RHP (and Red Sox UTIL Rob Refsnyder)

Even after a tough 2023 debut as a starter, this list still can't live on without acknowledging that the Yankees weren't willing to wait out Garrett Whitlock's Tommy John rehab (or had no idea what his peak could look like) and opted to protect erratic non-entity Brooks Kriske instead.

Somehow, the Red Sox managed to catch one of Whitlock's Instagram throwing sessions (was Brian Cashman not following him on IG?) and decided he was worth a selection. Survey says ... yup! Whitlock was an ace-level bullpen contributor and innings-eater in 2021, posting 2.9 WAR and a 1.96 ERA in 73.1 innings with the help of a magic fastball. Since then, he's signed a contract extension and been jerked back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen and back again, something we can guarantee you the Yankees wouldn't have done *cough, Joba, cough*.

Add in honorable mention -- and fellow Red Sox -- Rob Refsnyder here. Sure, it took Ref a long time to figure it out -- well after the "Give Rob the Job" days in the Bronx -- but he's become a very effective offensive piece against left-handers, ultimately unlocking something and hitting .307 with a .384 OBP and .881 OPS (142 OPS+) for the 2022 Sox.

Sure, it took a while for Refsnyder to find what made him so special as a prospect, but he did hit .302 with an .859 OPS in his first 47 plate appearances as a Yankee in 2015. Just a year and a half later, New York felt the need to trade him ... and not in a blockbuster, but in a random midseason 40-man swap for slugging first baseman Ryan McBroom (raise your hand if he affected your life in any way). Probably could've waited and uncovered what the Sox eventually did.

Hayden Wesneski, RHP

Yes, Wesneski's coming off a poor start, just like Waldichuk and Sears. If you want to argue the latter two deserve more time and should be on this list by Wesneski's side, we understand that.

But one look at Wesneski and it's obvious his sharp breakers are the type of hard-to-teach pitch you don't give up on so easily. Scott Effross could end up being a valuable contributor to the Yankees' bullpen, and he'll have many years of team control left to prove that, once he recovers from Tommy John.

Wesneski was a steep price to pay for him, even if he'd stayed healthy. He wowed in Yankees camp last winter, then made it to the precipice of the bigs before Cashman dealt him to Chicago last summer. The right-hander was promoted to the Cubbies almost immediately, and in six outings (four starts), he posted a sparkling 2.18 ERA, striking out 33 men in 33 innings (and allowing 24 hits) with the bender.

This season? Yeah, it's started a bit rougher; the Mariners knocked him off his block in his second appearance of the year after he won the No. 5 job outright. But Wesneski's longer body of impressive work gives him the boost over the A's hurlers, and we'll predict that by midseason, this regret will only loom larger.

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