Zack Britton is set to begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Somerset on Saturday, making at least the first few of his expected half-dozen or so rehab outings with the Yankees’ new Double-A affiliate.
And as much as Britton is looking forward to rejoining the Yankees after elbow surgery cost him the first two months of 2021, he’s also looking forward to a different time-honored tradition: being the rehabbing big-leaguer who treats the Baby Bombers to a nice meal.
“I'm going to be in Somerset for quite a bit, so they'll probably get tired of me down there," Britton said in a Zoom session prior to Thursday’s doubleheader. "I'm gonna pick through some things and see what they like, but I’ll make sure I take care of those guys. I know when I was in the minors and a major-leaguer came down, you always appreciated those guys.”
Major leaguers buying a meal for the minor-league clubhouse before departing their rehab assignments is perhaps one of the “good” unwritten rules of baseball. The spreads can range from fancy to fast– Yu Darvish bought steak and lobster for Cubs minor-leaguers during a 2018 rehab, while Mets ace Jacob deGrom paid the tab for Chick-Fil-A after last week’s rehab start in St. Lucie – and sometimes fun (A-Rod bought 900 Hooters wings for the entire Yankees complex in Tampa during his 2008 rehab from hip surgery), but it is always a treat for players who make much lower salaries.
Britton remembers Koji Uehara being in that position in 2010, and how the Japanese righty, who was still relatively new to MLB, treating Britton and his teammates at Double-A Bowie to a lavish spread.
"He didn’t really stick around after his inning, but he bought us a nice dinner, and I thought that was pretty cool," Britton said. "I remember playing with him after that and I told him that I really appreciated the gesture. That went a long way with the guys that were down there, and he didn't think anything of it, because it’s kind of just what you do. It's a cool tradition, understanding where you've come from."
Sometimes it goes beyond that, especially when family is involved. Joe Mauer once sent catching gear to the Twins’ complex after rehabbing there while brother Jake managed their FSL squad, and back in 2006, when Roger Clemens unretired to pitch for Houston, he paid to have the Lexington Legends’ clubhouse refurbished after joining son Koby on the Astros’ then Class-A team for a tune-up.
Britton has always had the mindset that as much as the tradition benefits the players, it’s also a nice way to say thank you to the coaches and staff in the minors as well.
“When I was in Baltimore going on rehab assignments, all those coaches were my coaches coming up, so it was a little way for me to say thank you to them too,” Britton said. “I don’t know many people in the minors here, but those coaches have helped produce a lot of good major-league talent for us, so it’s a nice way to say thank you for the hard work they do, and that they’re not forgotten down there.”
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