A couple of position players failed to make the team yesterday as the Yankees released Bill Hall and designated Justin Maxwell for assignement, according to Dan Barbarisi and Wallace Matthews.
Hall actually didn’t have an opt-out clause that is common in minor league contracts like his, but he wanted to find a major league job with another club so the Yankees granted his release. Not sure who is going to give him a job and why he thought he had a more serious chance to make the team. He didn’t have an especially good spring and is coming off a awful year.
And we’ve discussed Maxwell quite a bit. He’s a talented outfielder, but there just isn’t room for him on the roster and he’s out of options so unfortunately this had to happen.
It’s too bad the Yankees lost both of these players on Wednesday. It’s not like either of them would have ended up contributing a lot, but would be solid depth in case of an injury.
I've repeatedly said that the Yankees bench is unrealistically thin. A-Rod especially, and also Jeter, will need time in the DH spot. On paper, we have two backup infielders, but one of them is Chavez, who hasn't played more than 50 games in about five years and is basically guaranteed to spend time on the DL. Bill Hall would have been a nice jack-of-all-trades.