The Yankees made official Tuesday what many have believed for a while: If Slade Heathcott is going to play in the big leagues, it won't be for the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2009 draft.
Injuries and the long-term contracts given to Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner decided Heathcott's fate.
The hard-playing and oft-injured outfielder was among three players not tendered a contact by the Yankees, which makes the 24-year-old a free agent and able to sign with any other club. Lefty David Huff and righty Jose Campos also were non-tendered.
Following the 2013 season for Double-A Trenton, Heathcott underwent knee surgery. Nine games into the 2014 season for the Thunder the injury resurfaced and finished his season.
It was the latest in a long list of injuries for the Texarkana, Texas, product who experienced a rough childhood and struggled with substance-abuse problems as a teenager. As a senior in high school Heathcott, also a football star, lived out of his truck.
"If he had been healthy, I believe he would have been a good player,'' said Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees' amateur scouting director who selected Heathcott with the 29th pick in the 2009 draft. "Look at the year he had in the Arizona Fall League. Players who do well there and get ranked usually do well. It was about staying healthy.''
After the 2012 season in which he batted .307 (66-for-215) in 60 games for Single-A Tampa, Heathcott hit .388 (26-for-67) in 18 AFL games for Scottsdale.
In six minor league seasons Heathcott played in 309 games and posted a .268 average. The 103 games in 2013 for Trenton when he batted .261 with eight homers and 49 RBIs with a .738 OPS marked Heathcott's season-high in games played.
"I think if he stayed healthy he could have been like Brett Gardner,'' an AL scout said of Heathcott, who like Gardner has above average speed, throws and hits from the left side. "He had a lot of tools but his skills never developed. Somebody will take a chance on him because of his tools.''
Campos was part of the Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda deal between the Yankees and Mariners prior to the 2012 season. The Yankees liked his arm but troubles to that arm limited what Campos could do.
The 22-year-old right-hander didn't pitch at all last season due to arm problems and appeared in 31 games (five in 2012) for Single-A Charleston across two seasons.
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