The Yankees announced today that Tyler Wade, Rougned Odor, and Clint Frazier have been DFA’d. As glad as I am that we’re starting to clear up some roster space for our near ready prospects, I wanted to write this post primarily as a thank you to Mr. Tyler Wade. Frazier and Odor had a few bright spots during their Yankee tenure: Odor hitting some big home runs, and Frazier showing significant promise in 2020 by cleaning up his horrendous fielding ability and becoming a Gold glove candidate. Alongside their bright spots came even darker times: Odor finishing the season batting .202 with 100 Ks in 322 ABs, and Frazier seemed to have lost all the progress he made in 2020. Frazier’s DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) dropped from 3 in 2020 to -11 in 2021.
Moving on to the man of the hour though, Mr. Tyler Wade.
He was everything the rest of the roster wasn’t. Tyler Wade played a style of baseball that was showcased by no other members of the Yankees roster in YEARS. He had speed, smart baserunning, and elite defensive play and versatility. Wade was what I would call a professional back up for the New York Yankees, who was routinely shit on by people on social media during his tenure here.
Although Wade couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat, and the fans let him hear it everyday on social media, he was clutch when we needed him. Whether it was coming off the bench in the 9th to be the tying run on first or come in and take over for defensively for Gleyber Torres (who looked like a grown child playing short). He should have been admired and cherished more than he was. Yankee fans really won’t know what we had until he’s long gone, killing it as a starter in the National League somewhere next year.
So thank you, Tyler Wade, for being everything the Yankees weren’t. You will always be a Yankee in my book.
The Three Spot 