Guardians DFA former Yankees top prospect who made sure they had the upper hand on the way out

Somehow the New York Yankees went from a team with virtually no outfield to… the best outfield ever? Pretty good times. But you have to wonder why they couldn't bring in a left fielder – or even something close to that – after Brett Gardner left.

One of their possible options was former top prospect Estevan Florial, but he turned out to be nothing more than a Triple-A legend. It seems the Cleveland Guardians figured that out, too, after keeping him around for a few months.

Florial, who landed in Cleveland when the Yankees traded him for pitcher Cody Morris, was just nominated for a position by the Guards because of his lack of performance on offense.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are making good use of Morris following Clarke Schmidt's injury, as the pitching staff's depth has once again declined. Morris could also be a steal if we believe Baseball America.

Anyway, Florial is now off the waivers list after posting just a .173 batting average with a .631 OPS, 11 runs scored, 3 home runs and 11 RBIs in 36 games (111 batting appearances). Sound familiar, Yankees fans?

But don't forget, Florial got his “revenge” on the Yankees earlier this year before being benched. Oh, you mean you don't remember the three-game series in mid-April when Florial hit TWO OF HIS THREE home runs against the Yankees, one of them a crucial pinch-hit bomb that helped the Guaridans to an overtime win? That never gets old, does it?

But we'll move on. The Yankees' current outfield consists of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo – the latter of which emphatically demonstrated how misguided the front office has been in recent years by failing to sign a fully capable left fielder for 2022-2023.

Florial primarily played center field for the Yankees and was honestly a breath of fresh air defensively, but his hitting out there, coupled with the ragtag group of guys they had left and right (when Judge was injured), couldn't have been further from the solution.

This is another story about how the Yankees took far too long to figure out what they had in a talent whose potential was slowly fading. And now the 26-year-old will be looking for his third new team in just a few months.