New York Yankees: David Hale released during the roster freeze
Much to the surprise of David Hale, he was given his walking papers by the New York Yankees when no one was supposed to be walking. Shortly after, the misunderstanding was clarified.
Remember the scene in the movie Major League, when Rick Vaughn opens up his locker the last day of spring training to see a red tag hanging there. He storms into the manager’s office to find out he was not actually released, someone was playing a joke on him. I wonder if David Hale felt the same way after receiving word he’d been released by the New York Yankees.
The text messages came pouring in from friends letting Hale know they were sorry he had been released. Hale was not aware of this and didn’t know moves could be made during the time when there was a roster freeze on.
After contacting the ball club Hale found out there was a technicality to his being released. He had an opt-out clause in his minor league contract saying if he was not on the Yankees major league roster by a certain point, he could look for work elsewhere.
The Yankees needed to redo the language of the contract removing the date of the opt-out clause. Hale was completely understanding of the mishap. In four games this spring Hale had given up five earned runs and struck out eight in seven and a third innings.
Hale was in camp as a non roster invitee and Ken Rosenthal reported on twitter non-roster invitees with at least one day service time on major league rosters were eligible for a support program.
There are more than 300 players eligible, Hale presumably included, who will benefit from this extra funding. This came about through the player’s union and is another
example of Major League Baseball making sure players without lucrative contracts are being taken care of during this time of uncertainty.