Eh, sorry. Sometimes even I can’t resist the gimmick headlines:
A Mattingly will be back in uniform in the New York Yankees’ organization this year – Preston. The 24-year-old son of the former Yankees star and current Los Angeles Dodgers manager agreed Wednesday to a minor league contract with New York.
Preston is not exactly a prospect. If he was, he wouldn’t have been traded away by the Dodgers one week after his father was named Dodgers’ manager. He didn’t last in the Cleveland organization, and almost immediately re-signed with the Dodgers. In six seasons in the minors he has put up a line of .232/.276./335. And he has been shuttled all over the diamond, starting as a middle infielder and now playing corner outfield slots and a little first base.
I suppose this signing could be considered a nice gesture by the Yankees to the Mattingly family. Sort of a thanks for all of the years of goodwill and service Don gave the team. But given that the guy’s employment has been close to 100% based on his organizations’ relationship with his father, you gotta figure that his destiny is going to hold things other than playing baseball for a living in the not too distant future.
