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. 

The NBA season is officially over!

Before I get into this little rant I want to point out that I don't hate basketball. In fact, I've been a certified referee here in Ohio for 9 years, the last five at the varsity level. I was also lucky enough to play the game from age 7 until my senior year in high school. My varsity team my junior year actually made it to the state championship game (we lost to a private school from Syracuse... bastards).

Furthermore, March is by far my favorite month of the year. Not only is the baseball season underway, but the NCAA Tournament arrives. You could say that I'm a big fan of basketball at the high school and collegiate level.

That brings us to the National Basketball Association. My feelings on the pro game go from "meh" to utter disdain. I find the games to just be boring.

Maybe it's because I'm old. See, I still look back fondly on those Lakers teams with Magic and Kareem, or those Pistons teams with Isiah and Rodman. And thanks to my hatred for everything about Boston sports, I remember cheering on any team that was facing the Celtics. I guess I remember that version of the NBA being filled with teams.

Yes... teams.

Although it's gotten better since the early 2000s, I still see the majority of NBA teams being about one guy. So many offenses aren't filled with plays, but are simply about passing the ball to their resident "star" and getting out of the way. Sure, there may be other good to great players on a team, but they play a clear second fiddle to one guy.

It's either that or you get teams like Golden State that are considered "super teams", that make the rest of the teams in the NBA look like JV squads.

Hell, I heard on the local sports radio network yesterday that some idiot paid $90,000 for tickets to see Game 5. Are you freakin' kidding me!?!? I don't know what's worse... the guy that paid that much to see the game, or the simple fact that the tickets were that expensive in the first place.

So it should go without saying that I'm psyched that the NBA season is finally over with. I had to keep telling myself that today as I was driving around town, as my car radio is always tuned to that local sports radio station I mentioned earlier. And the Warriors winning the title was all they could talk about. Not just in the morning, but also this afternoon.

Now, I'm sure it was worse here than in other places (besides Oakland, and the surrounding area), as I'm not far from Cleveland so there are plenty of Cavs fans to appease. And I'm sure I'll hear some more about what the Cavs have to do in the offseason to try and compete with other super teams, namely the Warriors. But eventually the majority of talk is going to be about baseball... the greatest game on Earth. And that makes me smile.