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3 Former Yankees that New York will Regret Letting Walk in 2024

2023 was not the season fans expected for the Yankees. The bombers made some changes to help the roster. Can a player they let go use the change of scenery to prove the Yankees wrong?

By Ricardo Caraballo

New York Yankees v Kansas City Royals
New York Yankees v Kansas City Royals / Ed Zurga/GettyImages
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2. Drew Thorpe


This one may be too soon to call, but Drew Thorpe was a prospect whose first season in the Yankees minor league system proved to be a promise of what is to come.

After being drafted in 2022, he quickly moved up in 2023 from Advance A to Double-A. In 2023 he won four games and had zero losses for the Somerset Patriots (Double AA) and ten wins and two losses for the Hudson Valley Renegades (Adv A).

He would earn a total ERA of 2.52 while striking out 182 batters in twenty-three games. His great 2023 allowed him to take the award of MILB  Prospect Pitcher of the Year. He would become the second college pitcher to win this award.

Although the Yankees originally balked at AJ Preller’s offer that included Thorpe, the six-foot-three tall starter would end up being the main trade piece along with other pitchers that San Diego received for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham. Due to his performance, he would enter the top 100 prospects towards the end of the season.

He found himself as one of the Yankees' top 10 prospects. Now he enters the 2024 season as the number 85 prospect for the Padres. If he continues his performance from 2023, there is a high possibility that he will enter the Padres rotation at some point during the season. The Yankees lose a top pitcher in hopes that Soto can help win a championship, while San Diego seems to be on track to building a strong rotation.

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