The New York Yankees have cut 2019 third-round draft choice Jake Sanford, reportedly for stealing equipment from teammates and scamming baseball fans.
As per NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty, Sanford (seen above during a March interview with WNKY’s Maxwell Trink) allegedly was caught stealing baseball equipment from teammates and trying to sell that equipment online. Sanford repeatedly hounded teammates for their equipment to sell online, while occasionally swiping it from their lockers, a person with knowledge of the situation told Kuty. He spent last season with the low-A Tampa Tarpons and high-A Hudson Valley Renegades, then was assigned to the team’s Florida Complex League FCL Yankees affiliate this year. But he was cut last Thursday.
The New York Yankees cut Jake Sanford after he allegedly stole bats and gloves from teammates and tried to sell them online.
Fans also accused Sanford of defrauding them by taking money in advance for autographed equipment he never delivered. https://t.co/ubDmZi86Ni
— Matt Marshall (@_Matt_Marshall) May 18, 2022
Some fans started to call Sanford out over this alleged fraud on social media, and he’s since deactivated his social media accounts.
Sanford was a standout outfielder for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in college. He had a lot of power at the plate, and was expected to contribute to the Yankees’ big-league roster at some point. The Yankees gave him a signing bonus of almost $600,000, which adds to the strangeness of a story about him stealing from teammates and lying to fans.
Correction on bonus reported elsewhere: 3rd-rder Jake Sanford gets $597,500 from @Yankees (pick 105 = $554,300). Western Kentucky OF, C-USA player of year (393/483/805, 22 HR), led NCAA D-I in SLG, big bat speed & strength, plus run times too, projects as LF. @MLBDraft
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) June 10, 2019
Sanford may not be off the hook yet. MLB is investigating these charges, and one would have to think that the police might be called in also to look into this matter.
As of now, Sanford has yet to confirm or deny these charges. But at some point, he will have to answer for what he has allegedly done. The only question is, will it be in a courtroom?
[NJ.com, Bleacher Report; top image from Trink’s March 2022 interview with Sanford]
