Throughout most of last offseason, the reliable sources that tracked a player’s minor league option years reported that Yankees pitcher Albert Abreu was out of options. That made it curious that the team with playoff ambitions and needs on the roster was holding onto a player with only two games of major league experience and no clear track record of success.
Only in the early days of spring training was it reported that Abreu fit into a narrow window of rules that allowed him to have a fourth minor league option year, and the Yankees were prepared to take full advantage of it.