The New York Yankees made a last-minute roster decision just days before Opening Day, delivering bad news to a former top-25 prospect despite his breakout spring. Versatile utilityman Max Schuemann emerged as one of the Yankees brightest spring training standouts. The timing of the Yankees’ move raises immediate questions about Schuemann’s role heading into the season.
Despite acquiring Schuemann in a trade with the Athletics less than seven weeks earlier, and a stellar spring performance by the 28-year-old who assembled an .827 OPS in 16 spring training games, the Yankees announced on Saturday that they had optioned Scheumann to the Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, meaning that he would need to hit his way onto the Yankees roster at some later date.
The Yankees quietly made the roster move public with a notice on the team’s MLB.com transactions ledger.
The move, coming just four days before the Yankees’ season opener against the Giants in San Francisco, appears to have been the result of Scheumann getting caught in a numbers crunch. When the Yankees signed veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk to minor league deal on February 25, his contract came with clause allowing Grichuk to opt-out if he was not added to the big league roster by Friday.
Scheumann Made ‘Immediate Impression’ on Yankees
Scheumann, however, was one of the Yankees’ spring standouts, who “made an immediate impression in Yankees camp with his plate discipline and contact skills. His .321 average and .486 on-base percentage were among the best of any Yankees position player this spring,” according to analyst Sara Molnick of Pinstripes Nation.
But it was not enough for the Yankees decision-makers who, according to Molnick, looked instead as Scheumann’s light-hitting numbers over two years with the Athletics.
“Schuemann is a .212 hitter in 234 career big league games, all with Oakland over the past two seasons,” Monck wrote on Sunday. “His .603 career OPS at the major league level gave the Yankees pause. Grichuk, by contrast, has hit 20 or more home runs five times in his career and has years of experience producing in a bench role.”
So where does the Yankees’ last-minute roster decision leave Schuemann, who ranked as high as No. 21 among Athletics prospects as recently as 2024, according to MLB Pipeline ratings?
“He is not expected to make a significant impact at the Yankees’ big league level this season,” Molnick wrote. “But his spring performance will keep him in the conversation if injuries create an opening.”
Scheumann Rose From 20th Round Draft Pick to Major Leagues
The option to Triple-A is likely only a temporary setback for Scheumann, who has shown nothing but perseverance in his eight-year professional career since the Athletics made him a 20th-round draft pick in 2018 out of Eastern Michigan, grinding out a .765 OPS in 475 minor league games.
According to the MLB Pipeline scouting report, however,”his versatility is his greatest asset, with a rare ability to play above-average defense at every position on the diamond outside of pitcher and catcher. That supreme positional flexibility will keep him on the big league radar.”
But at least so far with the Yankees, “none of it was enough to beat out Grichuk, whose opt-out clause and big league track record tipped the scales,” according to the Pinstripes Nation writer.
Yankees Suddenly Hit Ex-Top 25 Prospect With Bad News Before Opening Day