Yankees' Spencer Jones undergoes rite of passage for most promising prospects — return to minors
Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones takes part in drills during spring training at George M .Steinbrenner Field on Feb. 23. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
TAMPA, Fla. — “You had a great first spring training. Now we’re going to send you across the street to the minor-league camp.”
Every Yankees prospect who has come through the minors to the majors has heard some version of that speech during their first major-league spring training.
The latest was centerfielder Spencer Jones, whose blistering maiden spring training performance came to an end on Tuesday when he was told by manager Aaron Boone that he was being demoted to the minor-league camp, which is across the street from Steinbrenner Field.
It happened to Boone when he was a young prospect with the Reds in 1996. The news was delivered by then-Reds manager Ray Knight, Boone recalled on Wednesday.
It happened to Aaron Judge in 2015. Then-manager Joe Girardi’s demotion chat with Judge came at an inopportune time for the future AL MVP.
“It was funny,” Judge said. “It was pretty quick. I had my parents in town. So this was like maybe the first day that they had come out and sure enough, that day they're waiting for me in the tunnel and I'm on a cart with all my bags and everything to take it across the street.”
It's a rite of passage for nearly every player who eventually makes it. Top prospects are invited to major-league spring training early in their careers even though they have virtually no shot of making the club. It’s a chance to be around the big-leaguers and play in exhibition games and see what big-league life will be like if you eventually make it.
You know you’re going to get sent out eventually. But you want the experience to last as long as possible.
“I kind of knew (what to expect) going into it since I'd only played up to A-ball at the time,” Judge said. “But you get a chance to be around some of the big leaguers here and kind of enjoy that. Tried to soak it in.”
Boone said his conversation with Jones, who hit .467 (7-for-15) with a memorable 475-foot home run in his first spring training, was brief.
“Spencer, he knows he's going down probably sooner rather than later because he understands it's about now building toward his season and making sure he's getting prepared to start and play every day and things like that,” Boone said. “He had a lot of success. He did a lot of good things and got to experience our room, our culture, some of our big boys and get to know them a little bit. I know he loved it and it was obviously a great first experience for him. An important step in the development.”
For Judge, he remembers Girardi getting right to the point.
“It's like, ‘Hey, buddy, you’re a little too young,” Judge said. “You’ve got to get some more experience.”
One of the oddities in baseball is that players who are sent to minor-league camp are still eligible to play in major-league spring training games, and often are called back up to fill in.
“All of a sudden, the next day, they're asking me to come over and play in the game,” Judge said. “It's like, ‘Wait, I just got cut but you want me to play in the game?’ But it’s part of it. It’s a good learning experience.”
Boone, who went on to a 12-year big-league playing career, was savvy enough in spring training 1996 to know he wasn’t ready for the majors.
“I remember my first at-bat, we’re playing (Cleveland) in Winter Haven,” he said. “I'm facing Eric Plunk. First pitch, I swung so hard I fell down. Next pitch, broken bat pop-up that the pitcher caught. I’m thinking, ‘OK, tough league.’ ”
Catcher Austin Wells was a non-roster invitee to spring training last season. He was injured, so he knew he had no chance to make the squad.
Still, Wells said, getting sent to minor-league camp “is kind of a little tough because we want to continue to train with the team. You start being around the guys and we're like, ‘This feels really good’ and so you're like, ‘Dang, OK back to reality, back to the minor-league side.’ I just honestly used it as more motivation to want to get back in there as fast as possible.”
Wells did make it back, all the way to the big leagues as he made his debut last Sept. 1. He is now in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot.
As for Jones, the 22-year-old will likely start the season at Double-A Somerset since he only has 17 games at that level, all in 2023. But once the sting of getting sent down wears off, Jones should realize he left a positive first impression.
“I think Jonesy — he came up here and impressed a lot of people and had a great spring,” Judge said. “He probably hit one of the farthest balls a lot of guys have seen early in camp. I'm excited for him and his future, man. I'm excited for what's to come for him. He’s going to be a special player, that's for sure.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
