Henry Roldán
Without a doubt, we hear fantastic baseball stories every day, with Jake Sanford’s, a former New York Yankees prospect, being one of them.
As reported by journalist Brendan Kuty of NJ.com, Sanford left the Yankees last week after being accused of stealing from his teammates and scamming several fans.
Kuty’s source revealed that the 24-year-old outfielder was released last week after a team investigation found he had stolen equipment from teammates and then sold the equipment online.
In addition to this, Jake Sanford accepted money from several fans, promising to deliver merchandise signed by Yankees players. A promise that, of course, he never fulfilled. And now, he is also considered a scammer.
In one of the reported cases, Sanford took $75 from a fan in exchange for a pair of autographed baseball gloves and then vanished after becoming aggressive with them during online chats. Another case also revealed that he had swindled him out of $600.
Kuty added that the reports he received indicate that Sanford could be in debt problems due to gambling, which is why he decided to take the easiest route to solve them.
Jake Sanford was not an elite prospect
The Yankees had no qualms in cutting Jake Sanford, who was drafted in the third round of the 2009 Draft, because, in addition to the terrible crimes he committed, he wasn’t considered an excellent prospect within the club.
Sanford studied at Western Kentucky University and after being drafted, he played 161 games with the Yankees between Low-A Staten Island, Single-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley. During that period, he averaged .267 with 23 home runs and 88 RBIs.
Before being freed from a police station where he was called to give testimonies about the crime, the Canadian signed with the Ottawa Titans, an independent Frontier League team. This is undoubtedly where he should play for a long time, as his history makes a comeback to Major League Baseball very impossible.
