CHICAGO — Over here on the home side of Guaranteed Rate Field (worst ballpark name ever), Rick Hahn voiced optimism about Blake Rutherford. “He came in with a goal of wanting to hit for more power this year and unfortunately got off to a slower start at Double-A,” Hahn, the White Sox general manager, said of the outfielder. “He’s young for his age [22]. All the athleticism and skills are still there. Frankly, we’re not too concerned after two months of struggling at an advanced level.”
Hahn of course shouldn’t give up on Rutherford, the Yankees’ first-round choice (18th overall) of the 2016 amateur draft whom they dealt to the Chisox as the centerpiece of a 2017 deal that made Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson (again) Yankees. Nor should the Yankees throw themselves a party over the fact that Rutherford entered Friday’s action with a lousy .224/.269/.311 slash line, having hit only three homers in 196 at-bats, for Double-A Birmingham.
Yet Rutherford — who was drafted out of high school at 19, leading to Hahn’s “young for his age” observation — serves as a convenient symbol given the Yankees’ current location, for an undeniable trend: Since they flipped the switch back from (briefly) sellers to buyers, the Yankees have dealt a trove of young, controllable players to other teams in order to acquire major league talent. And not one of those young, controllable players has come back to bite them in their pinstriped rear ends.
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Not all of those deals have worked out splendidly on the Yankees’ side. Most memorably, Sonny Gray came down with a severe case of New York-itis that compelled Brian Cashman to trade him away to the Reds last winter.
The acquisition of Gray from Oakland goes down as a wash for now, however, with both sides disappointed, although 2019 has brought some new hope to the Athletics. Pitcher James Kaprielian finally made his minor league debut in the A’s system last month after injuries sidelined him in 2017 and 2018. He has put up a 3.71 ERA in five starts. Outfielder Dustin Fowler hasn’t materialized, but infielder Jorge Mateo has put up good numbers at Triple-A Las Vegas in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Very few other Yankees giveaways stand out. Infielder Jose Devers, one of two youngsters they sent to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton, compiled a .385 on-base percentage through 32 games with Single-A Jupiter, and Starlin Castro, included in that monster trade as a financial counter, put up a typical Castro year in 2018 before cratering this season. Righty reliever Giovanny Gallegos has become a nice weapon for the Cardinals, who gave up the amazing Luke Voit to get him and the failed Chasen Shreve.
So far, the Blue Jays (J.A. Happ), Orioles (Zack Britton), Twins (Lance Lynn), Giants (Andrew McCutchen) and Mariners (James Paxton) have little to show for their efforts in send
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