BUT WAIT! Who the heck is Estevan Florial?
Well, let us tell you. Estevan is a super speedy Dominican-Haitian outfielder who New York signed as a 17 year old in March of 2015 to begin his career in the Dominican League.
Over the next 8 years, EIGHT YEARS, New York did nothing but mismanage Estevan's star potential (as if they DIDN'T want him to break out).
So why do we care about a 25 year old "baby" Yank with a career 123 MiLB wRC+ suffering the daily grind in Scranton Pennsylvania?
Because we could not believe Estevan wasn't given a shot to be the everyday Yanks outfielder!
No, not that. A REAL shot. Not a 35 PA sporadic look. An everyday shot, maybe for a month! Because he'll deliver. And that month will become 2, 3 and then the whole season then the next and next and next.
But maybe NYY didn't want him to deliver. Did you think about that? Maybe Estevan didn't leave a tip at the Yanks diner? Maybe the coffee he brought into the GM meeting was too cold? Maybe he was late to Day 1 of spring training. I don't know.
Let's recap what has happened:
1) After signing, Estevan joins the DSL leagues in 2015 as a 17 y.o. where he compiles a 155 wRC+ and was named MVP. Oh yeah, no big deal, he's just electric, that's all.
2) The next year, instead of having Estevan repeat the DSL which he destroyed, the now 18 year old is headed to the Appalachian League for rookie ball. No doubt that was all pretty intimidating (Appalachia does not look like the DR) and Estevan hit just .225 on way to a 92 wRC+.
3) But, realizing that Estevan is a stud, and despite the struggles in the rookie league, NY agressively promoted Estevan to Low A (just 23 PA's, where he excelled) then to all the way to A+ (for just 8 PA's).
Folks this was weird: the Yanks start off by over-promoting Estevan when they should have just kept him in low A.
4) Realizing that they were dumb, in Year 3, NY placed the 19 y.o. Estevan back in A ball where he hit really well with a .297 avg, .856 OPS with 11 HRs and 17 steals (for a 146 wRC+) before another promotion to A+ where over 87 PA's he hit .303 and garnered a strong 141 wRC+. Wow! Folks we have lift off! And things are going well!
4) In Year 4 (2018), NY could have had Estevan begin in AA, but they decide to leave him in A+ Tampa where he hit for a slightly above average wRC+ (110). No doubt that's deflating to the 20 year old rising star. But, that's ok. Not the end of the world. Because in 2019, he'll no doubt be in AA.
5) So, in Year 5, it would make zero sense to have the now 21 y.o. Florial repeat A+ ball again.
I mean he should be in AA (even in 2018, a AA promotion would have been in the cards.
But guess what NY did? They inexplicably stick poor Estevan back in A+ ball in Tampa. What the hell!!!!! Estevan has to be thinking "this is it, this is where I'll be forever".
And his line reflects that: a less than stellar .237 Avg, 8 HRs, 9 SBs over 301 PAs for a 101 wRC+. I don't blame Estevan. I blame the front office.
6) Then came the Covid year which wiped out the minor league season in 2020. Ugh. So what does NY do? They have Florial work out at the ST facility in Florida (which, if he was that much on the radar, it makes 2018 look even worse fro them). And, after knocking the socks off people in the spring training complex, the NY brass decide to call Estevan up for his major league debut (where he goes 1/3)! Wait? What the heck?
You leave the kid in A+ ball but now think he's ready to debut in the majors without a single AA or AAA PA? Ok, NY...
7) So, in 2021, realizing they have totally mismanaged Estevan's development (plus the Covid year wiping out AA for him), NY quickly promoted Florial to AAA (after only 39 AA PA's). Not suprisingly, the now 23 y.o. struggled to a .218 Avg, 13 HRs, 13 SBs in 362 PA's, resulting in a 93 wRC+ (which hurt the career wRC).
8) But NY STILL promoted Estevan to the show where he inexplicably hit .300/.990 OPS over 25 PAs for a 173 wRC+.
9) So in 2022 what would NY do? While NY could give him a shot in the bigs, or they could stick EF back in AA, the Yanks actually do the right thing here and leave/return the then 24 y.o. Estevan to AAA for 461 PA's where he hit .283 with 15 HRs and and stole 39 bases for an wRC+ of 124. That's pretty good.
10) So what would NY do in 2023?
How about keeping Estevan on the 40 man to protect him, have him start out in NY and give him just 1 AB, before waiving him (when they could sneak him through so they could outright him to AAA where they'd try and hide/suppress him for most of the year).
11) As NY struggled through the year Estevan deserved a promotion over Pereira and over Jasson Dominguez. He deserved to play over Aaron Hicks AND Oswaldo Cabrera, Franchy Cordero & Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
But nothing. No love, they "Just want him to work on his K rate", NY says.
12) But Estevan grew up in the Yanks system, he earned his shot. Sure, he has a career 29% K rate which you'd like to see below 25% but that's not a disqualifier and look at the other metrics: the ISO (near .200), the spd (7.1), the wOBA, OPS, you name it! He earned this.
Despite our disgust, Estevan stayed positive and returned to AAA Scranton in 2023 to bat .284 / .945 OPS with 28 HRs and 25 SBs across 482 AAA PAs, good for a strong 129 wRC+. And, that meant a 127 wRC+ over the past 2 years (.388 wOBA). That AAA wRC+ (over the last two years) is tied with Bo Naylor and Triston Casas (127) and better than Zack Geloff (125), Francisco Alvarez (124), Jarred Kelenic (122), Oscar Colas (122), Spencer Steer (120), Jarren Duran (117), to name a few. [min. 200 PAs]
13) So what is WRONG with NYY? Well a lot. But, for now, what is wrong with NYY and giving Estevan a shot? Who cares if your coffee was cold, this guy can flat out play!
And then it happened. It took a lot of injuries and moving parts, but it is finally, finally, here as Estevan was promoted on 9/10/23 to start 9/11 (rainout).
So now, as we settle in for the DH today (9/12) vs Boston, we are more excited than ever to see Estevan Florial finally get his shot!
And, we will be one of the first to introduce the starting CF of the future to Yankee fans (the player that NYY did no favors for, overlooked and maybe even sabotaged).
But there's no stopping the Florial arrangement now!
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