In an effort to do some 40-man roster cleanup last offseason, the Yankees traded Caleb Smith and Garrett Cooper to the Marlins. The main return was international slot money. But the Yankees also got a pitcher named Michael King.
He was drafted in the 12th round of 2016, and the Yankees amateur scouts liked him — by coincidence King had been one of those who helped give a tour of Boston College to the daughter of Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ head of amateur scouting. Yankees scout Shawn Hill put in a positive report from 2017. The analytics department liked King’s ground-ball rates.