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New York Yankees: The Baseball Odyssey Of Mason Williams

By Steve Contursi

Jun 13, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Mason Williams (63) catches a fly ball hit by Baltimore Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce (not pictured) in the fourth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 13, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Mason Williams (63) catches a fly ball hit by Baltimore Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce (not pictured) in the fourth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mason Williams has been a member of the Yankees organization since 2010 when he was selected in the 4th round. Highly touted as a multi-tooled player, he has yet to have more than a cup of coffee in the majors.

Mason Williams has toiled in the minor leagues for six years and counting as a member of the New York Yankees organization. Drafted in 2010 ,he was selected by the Yankees and advertised as a multi-tooled center fielder with a can’t miss tag on his neck.

These of course were the days when the Yankees farm system was mired in a slump following the arrival and success of the Core Four, so it goes without saying that Williams may have been a victim of overhyping from the get go.

Nevertheless, he remained in the list of Top 100 Prospects from 2012-2014. Every year, he would be invited to spring training and each time he would be given a limited number of at-bats, never once traveling north with the team.

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According to Baseball Reference, Williams has played in more than 500 games while amassing more than 2,000 at bats. His batting average is respectable at .274 over the six years since he was drafted.

He has played for eight different teams and was called up only once in 2015, receiving credit for one week towards his pension. And yet, he is only 24 years of age and generally is still mentioned in most lists naming Yankees Prospects. Perhaps fittingly, Williams made good use of the brief time he spent with the Yankees as you’ll see in this video.

So, the obvious question then becomes, what happened along the way? And why is he not yet the starting center fielder for the Yankees?

As with anything dealing with human nature, answers are elusive. But part of the story is given by Williams himself in an article that appeared in LoHud this past March. According to Williams, “Going through that whole time of failing and not succeeding and learning what I’m not good at, (taught me) how to not put myself back in that situation again. It was basically not putting myself in the same situations I had when I was struggling.”

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As you can tell, his words speak loudly of a man who really doesn’t have much of a clue as to his predicament, except for the fact that he knows he’s failing.

From the same article, Yankees Vice President of Player Development Gary Dunbo explains, “We took him out of high school and sometimes those players take a little bit longer They take a little bit longer to mature, and I feel like our coaching staff did a tremendous job with him and Gary Sanchez last year. Those guys kind of got back in the right lane and made really good progress toward becoming a finished Major League product.”

Still, you have to wonder. Williams was ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect entering the 2013 season. Entering 2015, he’d dropped to No. 30. With the addition of their recent haul of talent at the trade deadline, we can expect that he will drop even further down at the next review.

One thing that can’t be overlooked in the equation though is the fact that kids like Williams usually don’t make the journey to the majors by themselves. Some, like Williams, have their families who shed every tear and feel every barrier that stands in their way. Here’s a glimpse into the life of a professional ballplayer from a  Mother’s perspective.

Repeating, the attractiveness of his age makes him an excellent candidate to be traded if the Yankees go that route, and that means they could get something decent in return. Although, sometimes too, you reach a point where you simply say, “Maybe, he just needs (and probably wants) a change of scenery. So, let’s let him go and hope it doesn’t come back to bite us later.”

For Williams, he can only hope that he gets such a chance. Six years in the minors is by no means a lifetime, but if you are Williams, he might very well say that it’s felt more like two lifetimes.

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So, as we move forward with these NEW York Yankees, Mason Williams is just one more decision they will have to make. One thing can be said for sure, though, It’s certainly nice to have this wealth of talent that complicates the decision-making process for a change.

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