BRADENTON, Fla. – Luke Voit represented what the Yankees had change into. He was muscled and right-handed. He was single-minded as a hitter and single-dimensional as a participant.
Beginning on the commerce deadline final 12 months and accelerating after the Yankees meekly exited the AL wild card recreation towards the Red Sox, the management of the group lastly accepted that the group as assembled had gone so far as it was going to go – which was not far sufficient.
So Clint Frazier was non-tendered. Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela had been traded to the Twins. On Friday, Voit was within the batting cage readying to play first and bat cleanup within the Yankees’ spring coaching opener towards the Pirates when first Aaron Boone in particular person, and shortly after Brian Cashman through cellphone revealed he was the most recent a part of the breaking apart of this band.
Voit was dealt to the Padres for righty pitching prospect Justin Lange, who was the thirty fourth general choose in 2020. As commerce execution goes, this was merciful. It got here rapidly after Voit’s diminishing function just about evaporated with the re-signing of Anthony Rizzo. It got here early sufficient in even this condensed spring coaching for Voit to ascertain himself with a brand new group earlier than Opening Day.
“I’m really happy,” Voit mentioned. “It’s a good thing for my career, you know, kind of a fresh start.”
That is what the Yankees had been for him as properly. He was buried on the Cardinals behind Matt Carpenter and Jose Martinez at first. But quickly after his July 2018 acquisition, Voit established his would possibly with the Yankees.
Over the following three seasons, he was half mammoth and half mascot, crushing homers and bottles of water (and beers) to have fun. He was not afraid to talk his thoughts. And in 2020, he led the AL in homers within the COVID-abbreviated season.
But the issues with Voit grew to become evident as properly. He had bother staying wholesome and he was a center linebacker masquerading as a primary baseman. The Yankees simply had accrued too many righty-hitting, injury-prone, fielding-challenged, strikeout-susceptible clones. Part of the swap away from this was acquiring Rizzo from the Cubs final July, the start of the start of the top for Voit.
Voit knew he was on borrowed time as a Yankee and the group appreciated how he dealt with what Boone known as “a difficult situation,” particularly the previous few days with Rizzo’s return. Now he tasks to be the Padres’ common designated hitter – a present to Voit that the NL adopted the DH this 12 months.
The Yankees additionally cleared a roster spot and would look much better if they might discover all or any from extra catching depth to a high quality middle discipline backup for Aaron Hicks or a shortstop to again up Isiah Kiner-Falefa, in order that Gleyber Torres needn’t.
But there already has been a considerable facelift, albeit with out going to the highest of the market this offseason with a Carlos Corea and Freddie Freeman.
The dismissal of Sanchez, Urshela and Voit within the final week was probably the most overt act away from who the Yankees have been in current seasons. Voit and Urshela had been the nook infielders for a 103-win AL East winner in 2019; symbolic of the higher job the Yankees had been doing discovering undervalued chips available in the market. But there was a clock on Cinderella. Their effectiveness and sturdiness waned in 2021.
Cashman and his baseball operations division had resisted main alterations to the positional group for years. When the bottom grew overly right-handed, Cashman insisted the lefty alternate options had been inferior. When the protection grew extra Jurassic, the overall supervisor mentioned that fielding was not being ignored, however that all-around property had been laborious to search out.
Since the 2021 commerce deadline, nevertheless, the Yankees have steadily modified the complexion of the positional group. It was heightened within the final week as Sanchez, Urshela and now Voit went out the door. That assemblage went far, however stored hitting the identical wall. It went far, however not far sufficient. Voit known as the shut, however no title an annual “gut punch.”
And the Yankee brass couldn’t abdomen it any longer.
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