Estevan Florial somehow returning to Yankees says a lot about perception

Sometimes, it's the little moments in a 162-game season that tell you all you need to know about the big picture. When left-handed batter Franchy Cordero came up with a runner on and nobody out in a one-run game against 100 MPH lefty Gregory Soto, Yankees manager Aaron Boone let him hit for himself (and, apparently, try to learn bunting on the fly).

It didn't go well; Cordero was retired on three pitches. Still, Boone had the obvious option to sub in Aaron Hicks, then use Hicks as a defensive replacement for the iffy Cordero for the final two innings in wet-and-cold weather. He did not take that option. That tells you all you might need to know about Hicks, at the moment.

Sometimes, those telling little moments can be under-the-radar transactions. On Friday, the Yankees received another loud and clear message when outfielder Estevan Florial was reassigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, one week after being DFA'd to make room for Colten Brewer.

No longer on the 40-man roster, Florial will have more Triple-A reps to prove himself in the Yankees' system. But ... wait ... weren't we just bemoaning his squandered potential last week? Weren't we just memorializing his final game with the organization? You're telling us no other team wanted to claim Florial on waivers, work out the tiniest of trades, and see what they could do with him?

Yes. Nobody claimed Florial, which tells you all you need to know about his standing across the league, at the moment.

Yankees OF Estevan Florial rejoins organization after clearing waivers

For those fans bemoaning Florial's tenure as "another Miguel Andújar," that's not quite fair -- Andújar actually was claimed by the Pirates last year when the Yankees DFA'd him. Andújar was perceived across the league as a better asset than Florial.

Florial remains a five-tool outfielder, even if most of the tools have yet to translate to MLB action. Surely, the Yankees must be exhaling a little after pulling off this gambit and getting the tantalizing player back into their system -- even though his return means that the rest of the league hasn't deemed him 26-man roster material.

Perhaps this is the year he finally puts it all together. Perhaps it isn't. Luckily, if Florial's tools gel, the Yankees will be the beneficiaries.