The Yankees’ season ended on Wednesday night in the Bronx as they lost the American League Division Series to their divisional rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays. As fans in New York shift into the role of
detached spectator, they will be exposed to a number of familiar faces around the league as former Yankees fight to keep their season alive and push for a World Series ring. Perhaps they’ll encourage fans to root for their team, or maybe they’ll simply serve as a Guy to be Remembered. Here’s a rundown of the players on each team still in contention who previously wore Yankee pinstripes:
Blue Jays – Isiah Kiner-Falefa
The first team to clinch a spot in the ALCS was the Blue Jays, who won the American League East on a tiebreaker over the Yankees and then eliminated them in four games in the ALDS. Toronto is currently home to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the light-hitting shortstop who helmed the position in the Bronx in 2022 and played a utility role in 2023. Kiner-Falefa was traded from the Twins to the Yankees alongside Josh Donaldson and Ben Rortvedt for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela before the 2022 season. He hit .261/.314/.327 with four home runs and 22 steals in 142 games in his only season as the team’s starting shortstop. Kiner-Falefa competed for the starting job in 2023 as well, but ceded the role to Anthony Volpe and took over a utility spot. He played 115 games in his second season for the Yankees, hitting .242/.306/.340 with six home runs and 14 steals. An honorable mention goes to Yankee legend Don Mattingly, who is currently the bench coach for the Blue Jays.
Dodgers – Ben Rortvedt
Speaking of Rortvedt, he’s currently serving as the backup catcher in Los Angeles behind All-Star Will Smith as the Dodgers try to become the first team to win back-to-back World Series championships since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Following the now-infamous trade with Minnesota, Rortvedt made little impact with the Yankees and didn’t appear in a big-league game once during the 2022 season. He did make his Yankee debut in 2023 however, playing 34 games and hitting just .118 with two home runs. He was traded to the Rays before the 2024 season in a three-team deal that sent John Cruz and Shane Sasaki to the Marlins and made Jon Berti a Yankee. Rortvedt was traded from the Rays to the Dodgers in July, and he now has the best chance of his career to become a World Series champion. Former Yankees Kirby Yates and Andrew Heaney pitched for the Dodgers this season, but Yates is currently injured and Heaney is not on the playoff roster.
Mariners – Caleb Ferguson
While the now-eliminated Tigers were home to former Yankees who are revered and perhaps even missed by the fanbase, their victorious opponents in the ALDS cannot say the same. Caleb Ferguson served as a lefty specialist in the Yankees bullpen for 42 games in 2024 and was highly ineffective, going 1-3 with a 5.13 ERA and 10.3% walk rate. No one shed a tear when he was traded to the Astros at the deadline, where he threw just one pitch in the postseason. He signed with Pittsburgh before this season and then was traded to Seattle, where his two appearances this postseason have yielded disastrous results.
Cubs – Jameson Taillon
Taillon is a former top prospect who has now enjoyed a long and respectable career despite multiple health scares including testicular cancer and tears to his UCL. After four season with the Pirates, he was traded to the Yankees for Roansy Contreras, Miguel Yajure, Maikol Escotto, and Canaan Smith-Njigba. He spent two seasons in the Bronx, making 61 starts in total and posting a 4.30 ERA in 2021 and 3.91 ERA in 2022. He hit free agency after the 2022 season and signed a four-year, $88-million contract with the Cubs, where he’s been able to stay healthy and remain in the starting rotation throughout his tenure with the team. His last two seasons have arguably been the peak of his career, and his start in Game 3 of the NLDS is a huge reason why the Cubs are still alive and facing a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday. An honorable mention goes to Kevin Alcántara, a top prospect in the Cubs organization who was acquired in the Anthony Rizzo trade.
Brewers – Jake Bauers
The left-handed slugger (and occasional relief pitcher) Jake Bauers is fighting for a World Series berth with the Milwaukee Brewers after spending 2023 as a member of the Yankees. Bauers hit 12 home runs in 84 games as a Yankee, though the power came with a 34% strikeout rate and a .202 batting average. He’s often utilized as a platoon bat or pinch-hitter, and that’s likely the role he’ll continue to find himself in if the Brewers are able to advance to the NLCS against the Dodgers. Honorable mentions are in order here for some former Yankees prospects, including Blake Perkins and Brandon Lockridge, but most notably for Caleb Durbin who broke out in the Yankees’ minor league system in 2024 before being traded alongside Nestor Cortes in the trade that brought Devin Williams to the Bronx.
Honorable mention – Tigers
Detroit lost a heartbreaker last night, and had they advanced, we would’ve seen three former Bombers continue on in Gleyber Torres, Jahmai Jones, and Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle had the poor fortune of being the one to surrender the game-winning, series-ending hit to Jorge Polanco.