Meet a Prospect: Kirby Yates

The New York Yankees are not above taking a chance, especially in their bullpen, and the team is taking another chance this season with Kirby Yates. Yates was recently acquired by New York from the Cleveland Indians in a deal that saw cash considerations go back to Cleveland. Yates will presumably fight for and win a spot in the Yankees bullpen this spring although the possibility of starting the season down in Triple-A with the Scranton RailRiders is always there. Either way Yates is the newest member of the Yankees organization and the Yankees family so we here at The Greedy Pinstripes will welcome him the best way we know how. This is Meet a Prospect: The Kirby Yates Edition.


Kirby Kali Yates was born on March 25, 1987 and joined his brother Tyler Yates on their goal of playing in Major League Baseball. Both have made it to the big show and both have taken significantly different paths. Kirby was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 26th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball First Year Players Draft out of Kauai High School in Lihue, Hawaii. Yates did not sign and ultimately attended Yavapai College where he missed both the 2006 and 2007 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. With this knowledge in the back of many teams and scouts heads Yates went undrafted in the 2009 MLB Draft.


Yates signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to begin his professional career and almost immediately rewarded the team with a Triple-A All-Star Game nomination in 2013. This earned Yates the opportunity to be added to the team’s 40 man roster on November 20, 2013 and set him up to make his Major League debut on June 7, 2014.


Yates stuck around with the Rays through the 2015 season before the team ultimately designated him for assignment and traded him to the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations. Yates was not long for Cleveland though after undergoing the same treatment with the Indians. Another designation for assignment and another trade for cash considerations, this time to the New York Yankees. Kirby and his fiancée Ashley Rowe will now look to stick in the Bronx with the big league Yankees and not suffer the same fate three times in an offseason.


Welcome to the organization Kirby and welcome to the family. Aloha.