Thursday, April 5, 2018

Meet a Prospect: Trayce Thompson



The New York Yankees quickly went from being an offensive juggernaut to the walking wounded here in 2018, especially with their outfield depth. Clint Frazier went down with a concussion, Jacoby Ellsbury strained an oblique and then began dealing with hip issues, Aaron Hicks was later added to the 10-Day disabled list, Billy McKinney lasted an inning in his MLB debut before getting hurt, and the team traded Jake Cave away over the winter. All-in-all the Yankees still have one of the best outfields in all of Major League Baseball with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner but the team felt like they needed some depth and insurance off the bench leading the team to acquire outfielder Trayce Thompson off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ben Heller was added to the 60-Day disabled list in a subsequent roster move. Let us meet the latest talented outfielder to grace the Yankees active roster this season. This is Meet a Prospect: The Trayce Thompson Edition.  

Trayce Nikolas Thompson was born on March 15, 1991 and is the brother of Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson. Thompson attended Santa Margarita Catholic School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California where he committed to play college baseball for the University of California, Los Angeles, or more commonly known as UCLA. Thompson ultimately decided to forego his commitment to UCLA though after the Chicago White Sox drafted him in the second round of the 2009 MLB First Year Players Draft. Thompson signed and immediately began his professional career with the Rookie level Bristol White Sox. Trayce got 106 at-bats under his belt in 2009 and continued to work his way through the White Sox minor league system through the 2013 season. On November 20, 2013 the White Sox added Thompson to their 40-man roster and by August of 2015 Thompson was at the Major League level and making his MLB debut with Chicago. 

Thompson did enough in his two-month stint with the White Sox in 2015 to garner the interest of the Los Angeles Dodgers who acquired Thompson in a three-team trade. The White Sox sent Thompson along with Micah Johnson and Frankie Montas to the Los Angeles Dodgers while the White Sox received Todd Frazier back from the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds received Jose Peraza, Brandon Dixon and Scott Schebler back in the deal. Thompson made the Dodgers Opening Day roster for the 2016 season and appeared in 80 games hitting .225 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI. Thompson’s season was cut short after being placed on the disabled list with a sore back. X-Rays eventually revealed that Thompson had multiple fractures in his back, an injury that ended his season on July 16, 2016. 

Thompson was back with the Dodgers for the 2017 splitting time between the Minor Leagues and the Major Leagues, but never found the power stroke that he had during the 2016 season. The Dodgers designated Thompson for assignment on March 27, 2018 and the Yankees snatched him up off of waivers this week to fill their outfield depth need. 

Oh, and before I forget. Scott Fiedler wants Golden State Warriors tickets. Make that happen, Trayce. Welcome to the family, enjoy your stay. 

4 comments:

  1. Sorry Trayce, we hardly knew ye! Enjoy your time with the Athletics and being in the same city as your brother Klay. Wish you could have stayed in Pinstripes and bought me some Warriors tickets!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, that happened fast. Oh well, maybe next time on the tickets Scott.

      Delete
  2. Now we know why the legendary Cody Asche is a Yankee. LOL! Bodies needed for the RailRiders while the Baby Bombers ride the Scranton Shuttle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also I read somewhere that the Yankees only took him (Trayce) with the intention of trying to clear him through waivers. When they couldn't they let him go to the A's.

      Delete

Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)