It's been a tough ride for Florial, he's been in a decline since 2019 and it has been very hard to watch but he's been tearing it up lately. Maybe he has finally turned the page and the consistent playing time in Triple-A is exactly what he's needed.
He's locked in right now. Florial has a .308BA with 10 home runs, 29 RBI, 41 runs scored and 26 stolen bases in 62 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In the last week he has a .480BA with five homers, eight RBIs, 11 runs and four doubles and was named International League Player of the Week from June 27th-July 3rd. He's hot at the right time, especially as fans continue to lose faith in Joey Gallo.
So now that Florial's stock is rising again....what do the Yankees do with him? What's the move?
There's two obvious moves here. First, give Florial a shot in the big leagues. His offensive production is what the Yankees have been waiting for. It's been a long time coming and it's finally here. The strikeouts are still high but....so are Gallo's for crying out loud! Strikeouts are a part of the game (again, see Gallo) and as long as he plays reliable defense, steals bases and makes contact what else can we ask for? We aren't getting that from Gallo or Aaron Hicks either. He's also 24 and running out of options and earned consideration for the next step up. If not now.....when? The time has never been better to see if he can make it in pinstripes.
And if the Yankees aren't ready to give him playing time in the big leagues the other answer is to trade him. The Yankees haven't shown a willingness to consider options to replace Gallo or Hicks. Take Miguel Andujar for example, he's been up and down with the Yankees for years now. He's been just as good as Florial and he has more major league experience. The Yankees will soon run out of options to call Andujar up thanks to restrictions in the new CBA that passed earlier this year. So maybe that is why the Yankees hold onto him....because they are already planning to use him when Andujar can't be called up again. That time is coming.
The Yankees have said they think highly of Florial.....but how highly? I think we will soon find out. If the Yankees don't think Florial fits their future plans he will be gone in less than a month and the Yankees will get something to win.
So what's the right move? I'm glad I don't have to decide and I can just speculate. The clock is ticking.....
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj
I do not know why Florial and Andujar are not on the Yankees current roster.
ReplyDeleteI also do not know why they keep Gallo .He said he wants to be a Yankee big deal so did Frazier and with double vision still hit higher than Gallo last year.At Scranton we have 2 outfielders who could produce more than Gallo.
DFA Gallo,trade him for low tier prospect no one is going to trade for him he has been a bad hitter with power and now he isn't hitting with power.
Time to save some money and use Florial and Andujar in LF and Florial can play CF moving Judge back to RF.