ICYMH: Slade Heathcott

ICYMH stands for “in case you miss him” and it’s much like ICYMI, or in case you missed it, in the fact that we are bringing attention to something that you may or may not have already seen. The New York Yankees have a downright gluttonous amount of speed and defense first minded light hitting outfielders in their farm system currently and the team ridded themselves of one this week with the release of Slade Heathcott. This, as a fan, came as a surprise and shocked me since Heathcott made such a memorable impact down the stretch last year but in the grand scheme of things the young outfielder did himself no favors during his tenure with the Yankees. So in case you miss him here is the Slade Heathcott story.

After being a first round draft pick for the Yankees in the 2009 Draft Heathcott has battled off the field issues including a fight with alcoholism as well as on the field issues. Well when he could be healthy enough to stay on the field that is. Heathcott has battled numerous injuries during his Yankees tenure including knee, shoulder and quad injuries and was on the Yankees Triple-A disabled list at the time of the release. Heathcott has been known to miss a team function or bus from time to time and has missed games due to sleeping in past his alarm and other humanly excuses. I can only presume that enough got to be enough for New York. Or did it.

You have to keep in mind that the Yankees had Heathcott on their 40 man roster, a 40 man roster that is currently stretched as thin as it’s going to get. The Yankees have already designated Heathcott for assignment and granted him his release only to immediately re-sign him to a new minor league deal and a similar outcome could be in the works right now. Heathcott is still injured and no one knows when he will return, will another major league team really take a chance on Heathcott right now? Unlikely. What is likely though is that he returns to New York as soon as next week. It’s called roster manipulation. Deal with it Boston.

So Heathcott is gone from the organization once again but have no fear to all those fans that may miss him, I truly think Heathcott will be back once again ( and yes I read Chad Jennings report where he said he didn't think the Yankees were going to pursue him again) and he will once again play like he has a chip on his shoulder. Personally, I can’t wait.