TAMPA, Fl. — The Yankees roster is down to 45 after the latest cut on Sunday. The team parted away with two sluggers Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney.
Jake Bauers showed that he was a good option to be on the Yankees roster this season. The left-handed first baseman had a great spring, and if Anthony Rizzo ends up on the injured list because of a back flare-up or something else, he is a worthy alternate. In one plate appearance as a substitute in Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Orioles, he reached on an infield single to raise his average to .391 and give him two RBI in 23 at-bats over 12 games.
The 27-year-old started in Triple-A baseball with the Reds’ farm team in Louisville. In 29 games, he hit .135 with three home runs. He was sold to the Yankees on June 3, and in 32 games with the RailRiders, he hit .226 with five home runs.
He has played for the Rays in 2018, the Indians in 2019 and 2021, and the Mariners in 2021. In 977 career at-bats, he has hit 27 home runs. As a first-year player, he hit 11 home runs in 323 at-bats .201 going to Tampa Bay.
After the season, Bauers became a free agent and then signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees. Though he didn’t hit a home run while on the Yankees roster this spring, he has a lot of pop that showed up when he played in the big leagues.
“Whatever happens this year or the next couple of years, I think I’ll look back on it as the journey that really shaped me as a person,” Bauers said after the Yankees roster cut . “I hit a roadblock. You dream as a kid of playing (in the big leagues) and then you get there and you’re not playing as you want. I was devastated to the point where it kind of bled into my personal life a little bit and some relationships were challenged.
“At that point, it’s now or never. We either figure out a path back to mentally being OK with whatever happens or just hit that rock bottom. So, to dig myself out of that and just to be standing here with a fresh perspective and a positive attitude is everything.”
The Yankees roster cut also eliminated McKinney, who has a lot of left-handed power as well. In 263 games in the major leagues, including his first two as a Yankee in 2018, he has hit .206 and played in 28 games. The 28-year-old was re-signed by the Yankees in December, but he didn’t hit very well this spring. In 28 games over 15 games, he hit .179 with one RBI.
After the Yankees roster cut, the team is now down to 45 players, with 24 pitchers and 21 position players, but eight of them will start the season on the injured list because of injuries. The team needs to remove 11 more players before their season opener on March 30 against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium.
Here is the latest Yankees roster:
STARTING PITCHERS (8): RHP Gerrit Cole, LHP Nestor Cortes, RHP Domingo German, RHP Clarke Schmidt, RHP Luis Severino.
Injured players: RHP Luis Gil, RHP Frankie Montas, LHP Carlos Rodon
RELIEVERS (16): RHP Albert Abreu, RHP Jimmy Cordero, RHP Clay Holmes; RHP Michael King, LHP Matt Krook, RHP Jonathan Loaisiga, Ron Marinaccio, LHP Wandy Peralta, RHP Greg Weissert.
Non-roaster players: RHP Tyler Danish, RHP Ian Hamilton, RHP Tommy Kahnle, RHP James Norwood, LHP Nick Ramirez
Injured list: RHP Scott Effross, RHP Lou Trivino
CATCHERS (5): Kyle Higashioka, Jose Trevino
Non-roaster players: Rodolfo Duran, Carlos Narvaez
Injured list: Ben Rortvedt
INFIELDERS (8): Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres
Non-roaster players: Wilmer Difo, Anthony Volpe
OUTFIELDERS (8): Oswaldo Cabrera, Estevan Florial, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton
Non-roaster players: Willie Calhoun, Rafael Ortega
Injured list: Harrison Bader,
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