Pitcher Makes Yankees Debut 17 Years after New York Drafted Him

The New York Yankees spent a third-round pick on Zach McAllister and it finally paid off 17 years after it was spent.

Zach McAllister made his New York Yankees debut on Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox. It only took him 17 years.

McAllister — who was taken by the Yankees in the 2006 MLB Draft but never made it to the Majors with the Yankees — threw an inning of scoreless relief for the Yankees in the second game of their doubleheader with the Red Sox.

So how did this happen?

When the Yankees took McAllister in the third round of the 2006 Draft, the hope was that the right-hander would one day throw in pinstripes at Yankee Stadium. At one time, he was a Top 10 prospect in the Yankees system.

He was almost traded to Seattle in 2010 for pitcher Cliff Lee. But the deal was spiked after one of the other Yankees prospects included in the deal came up injured. Lee eventually ended up with the Texas Rangers.

The following month he became the “player to be named later” in a trade with Cleveland and the next season he reached the Majors.

With Cleveland he pitched for eight seasons and carved out a role as a starter for two seasons and then a reliever, where he went 29-35 with a 3.99 ERA. He appeared in 277 games and also had a save.

In 2018 Cleveland waived him and he ended up in Detroit, where he threw in three games and gave up eight runs.

After that, McAllister bounced around the minors. The Dodgers, the Rangers, the Phillies, the Cardinals and the Diamondbacks all took a chance on him. He never got back to the Majors.

The Diamondbacks released him on Aug. 2. The Yankees signed him three days later, assigned him to Triple-A and he suddenly figured it out.

In 11 appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre he had a 1.62 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 16.2 innings.

The move of pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga to the injured list opened up a spot for McAllster and his full-circle Major League moment.