New York Yankees fans on Stephen Ridings' departure: "Joke of a franchise", "The winter of our discontent has begun"

The New York Yankees are the most popular team in the MLB — and with their large fanbase, it can be either a blessing or a curse. It was recently reported that highly touted reliever Stephen Ridings was claimed off the New York Yankees waivers by none other than their intercity neighbors, the New York Mets.

Ridings didn't play through the 2022 season in the majors due to a right shoulder impingement but made appearances in two games for Somerset and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In his 2021 cameo appearance, he showed glimpses of his potential in five games of play after posting a 1.80 ERA and fanning seven of the 20 hitters he faced.

Yankees fans couldn't hide their frustration upon hearing the news as the young reliever could have been a vital piece in the team's oft-injured bullpen.

Some fans even compared Ridings' case to that of Garrett Whitlock. Whitlock played in the Yankees' minor league system before being selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. The young hurler then became a vital piece for the Red Sox pitching crew and has a 12-6 record with a 2.73 ERA for Boston in his two seasons with the club.

Brandon Nimmo being monitored by the New York Yankees

In what could be an interesting move, the Yankees might just claim a player off the New York Mets. It is reported that the team has reached out to Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo had a respectable campaign wherein he batted .274/.367/.800 with 16 home runs and 64 RBIs for the 101-win Mets team.

The Yankees are yet to reach an agreement with superstars Aaron Judge and Andrew Benintendi, and are exploring the market for first-team quality outfielders after Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks struggled in the outfield last season. The only locked-in spot who will regularly play the outfield is 2021 Gold Glover and New York native Harrison Bader.

It has been rumored that the Bombers might sign either Nimmo, Benintendi, or NPB superstar Masataka Yoshida to fill the gap in the outfield.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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