New York Yankees Embarrass Again With Treatment of ‘Hometown Kid’

Harrison Bader wanted to play for the New York Yankees for a very, very long time.

Bader grew up in The Bronx, and played baseball in New York City until leaving to play for the University of Florida in College. Then, nearly a decade later, Bader was traded to the Yankees by the team that originally drafted him, the St. Louis Cardinals. He went on a magical run in the playoffs for New York in 2022, and after missing the beginning of the season with an injury, was the team's everyday centerfielder for most of 2023.

Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, it was over, and the way the situation was handled by the Yankees' front office certainly left a lot to be desired.

Get our free mobile app

Right or Wrong, New York Yankees Handled Bader Decision Poorly

As was announced on Tuesday, August 29th, the New York Yankees placed centerfielder Harrison Bader on waivers. In instances like these, teams had until 1PM on Thursday to decide whether or not they'd attempt to "claim" Bader off of waivers.

Then, when 1PM rolled around on Thursday, Bader would be moved to the team with the worst record who had placed a claim on him. Thursday, we learned that the Cincinnati Reds were the team that fit that description, and Bader promptly departed the New York organization.

That's not the issue here. My problem with this entire situation, is that Harrison Bader learned he had been put on waivers by watching a report on television. No one from the organization gave him a heads up at any point that this may be happening, and as such, he was caught off-guard by the news.

This would be bad if it happened to any member of the franchise, but when you factor in that Bader is a true "hometown kid" in The Bronx, it's even worse. Check out this clip of Bader talking about his time with New York:

I'm fully aware that professional sports are, by nature, a business, and business can be cutthroat at times. That being said, these players are human beings, with lives and families, and especially in Bader's case, invest a lot of time, effort and emotion into being a member of this storied franchise.

It's time for this storied franchise to get back to treating its players, and its fans, like they matter.