Recently released Triple-A first baseman somehow finds his way back to Yankees

Less than a week ago, first baseman Jose Rojas, formerly of the Angels, had accrued zero reps since May 31, appearing to trigger his opt-out clause and departing the Yankees' system. He showed up on the transaction wire as "released," though we theorized it wasn't a performance decision. After all, he'd done his job, posting a .900 OPS and 10 homers in two months with the RailRiders.

Where would Rojas land next, while the big-league Yankees struggled to crack an answer to their Anthony Rizzo problem? Turns out, right back where he started.

Without much fanfare, Rojas simply ... returned to the lineup on Sunday afternoon, cracking a three-run homer in his first at-bat and driving in five runs by the end of the 12-11 victory (and playing left field).

What changed? Why did Rojas (and the Yankees) see an opportunity where there hadn't been one just a few days prior, especially with Ben Rice now added to the first base mix in Scranton? Was there really not a better chance somewhere else?

Yankees Triple-A slugger Jose Rojas returns to organization with a bang on Sunday

Of all the potential solutions to get Rizzo off his feet more often -- a trade acquisition, a Rice promotion, a third base addition to push DJ LeMahieu across the diamond, etc. -- "Jose Rojas gets added to the 40-man and starts playing immediately" feels like the least likely. In case you needed more evidence of that, he's already been pushed to left field at the Triple-A level.

But, still ... it's admittedly curious that he'd leave the organization, then both sides would think better of it and work things out just a few days later (days which, at the MLB level, have been dominated by "Rizzo's a problem" discourse).

Something to think on, no doubt. At the very least, the Scranton offense retained a key piece at the buzzer this week.