As the Yankees enter a critical offseason, and likely a transitional one, the team will need some of its prospects to pan out and contribute to the big league club.
The youth movement began down the stretch of the 2023 season, with Everson Pereira, Jasson Dominguez, Oswald Peraza, and Austin Wells all getting consistent looks. Keith’s concern is that a troubling trend continues where the Yankees fail to develop their youth once they reach the majors.
“They certainly have messed up a lot of young players in the past,” Keith said. “Rarely do we see a rookie [like Anthony Volpe] come up where they say the whole season, you’re our starting shortstop. “They didn’t do that for some of these guys. Miguel Andujar? Ruined him. Clint Frazier? Ruined him. It didn’t go so well for the Baby Bombers. Even right now. Estevan Florial. You needed an outfielder, you ran out all these other guys who haven’t played outfield, like Jake Bauers. Six years, they didn’t give Florial a shot.
“Oswald Peraza, I’m thinking they’re gonna ruin this kid. They bring him into the ALCS this time last year because IKF couldn’t get it done. He didn’t belong in the ALCS playing against the best team in baseball. That’s a tough test for a rookie late in the season.”
The Baby Bomber era proved to be a disappointment, as the likes of Sanchez, Andujar, Frazier, Greg Bird, Luis Severino, and Gleyber Torres all fell off after looking like stars in the making early in their careers. The Yankees can’t afford to let that happen again, so something will need to change from a philosophical standpoint.
“Even these pitchers, they jerk these pitchers around,” Keith said. “Randy Vasquez and Jhony Brito, they send them up and down. And what about Deivi Garcia?
“They’re good at ruining guys.”
