Gleyber Torres’ potential injury in Thursday’s game was another blow for the Yankees, who could be without literally half of their nominal starting lineup come Friday night. The injury bug has bitten hard the last few years and turned some moves that Yankees fans should’ve been crowing about for years into what-ifs – like, say, the trade for injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
One thing fans are sadly familiar with is seeing Stanton, supposedly the last ingredient to a lethal Yankees lineup, scratched and on the IL. Though the Yankees gave up little more than money and a MetroCard to get the former NL MVP, he makes much too much money to watch the games as his body betrays him again…and again...and again. It slowly makes you forget that Stanton is a fine baseball player, and the kind of hulking slugger that long ago reshaped the Yankees into the Bronx Bombers.
Fairly or not, Stanton will be branded a bust if he doesn't put up two or three seasons that were similar to his monstrous Miami days. Especially in New York, and on the Yankees, where teams can't pitch around him the way they did when he toiled on that pillow-soft Marlins team. So in dubious honor of Stanton's lengthening list of maladies, here are five of the biggest position player busts the Yankees ever acquired.
Kevin YoukilisPerhaps the “Curse of the Bambino” exacting some revenge on the Yankees, who seemed obsessed with getting former Red Sox players. Youkilis inked a one-year, $12 million deal with the Yankees in 2013, and he notched 105 at-bats with a .219 average, two homers, and eight RBI in 28 glorious games. Since it's one year, it feels marginalized, but if you are asking for return on an investment, Kevin Youkilis was about as valuable as a thousand shares of Enron. The deal was particularly pungent, considering that Youkilis was on that nauseating "Cowboy Up" club that shocked the Yanks in the 2004 ALCS and was deadly at the plate. Until he got to New York, where he killed the Yanks again by making $114K per subpar at-bat.
Danny TartabullFew fondly recall the Stump Merrill years, so it's no surprise to see this slugger. With the Kansas City Royals, Tartabull belted 25, 34, and 26 homers - major numbers before steroids devoured the sport – and in 1991, Tartabull clubbed 31 homers, drove in 100 runs, and even batted .316, worthy of his first All-Star selection. It was also his last. The Yankees signed Tartabull to a five-year $27 million deal, making him the richest player in the AL, and while he did well his first two seasons in the Bronx, his batting average plunged over 50 points. Then he fell apart, posting 33 HR and 130 RBI over the next two seasons combined. The Bombers booted him to Oakland before his fifth season.
Spike OwenOwen, best known for his time in Boston, was with the Montreal Expos in 1991 before signing a surreal three-year, $7 million contract with the Yankees before the 1992 season. The light-hitting shortstop's epic career with the Bombers lasted 103 games, all in one year, where he crushed two homers and hit .234 before he was jettisoned to the Angels. Granted, he was signed more for his defense, but the Yanks had ball boys who could swing a better bat. Thankfully, a kid from Kalamazoo soon made his way to the Bronx - some boney baby-faced boy named Jeter? – to solve the shortstop situation.
Jesse BarfieldNo one can forget that Jesse Barfield hit 62 homers and drove in 132 runs for the Yankees. The problem is that those were his totals over four years, and he did it while batting .231 for the Bombers. Barfield was a fine slugger in Toronto from 1982 through 1988, and the Yankees hoped he’d be the same in his thirties – but this Chernobyl-type trade was especially gruesome when you consider Barfield was not only bad on the back-nine of his career, but also cost the Yankees a promising pitcher named Al Leiter. The latter alone makes this maybe the worst deal in Yankees history. Leiter went on to win 163 games and strike out nearly 2,000 batters over 19 years, winning three World Series rings. Oh, and in 1992, Barfield - or Barf-ield - made $2.16 million, while Leiter made 287 grand while winning his first Fall Classic.
Jacoby EllsburyThe year before he joined the Yankees, Ellsbury batted .298 and led the league with 52 stolen bases, and even bagged some AL MVP votes. And earlier in his career in Boston, Ellsbury had a career year in 2011, hitting .321 with 32 homers, 105 RBI, and 32 stolen bases – leading him to a Gold Glove, a Silver slugger, his lone All-Star Game, and a second-place finish in the AL MVP vote. The Yankees signed Ellsbury to an obscene, seven-year, $153 million contract in 2014, even though he turned 30 in his maiden Yankees year, and his time in pinstripes ended with a .259 average, 33 total homers, and about three full years off (including this one, after he was straight-up released over the winter). Ravaged by injuries, Ellsbury averaged a modest 26 stolen bases, too, and has largely been considered the Carl Pavano of Big Apple position players.
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