The Toronto Blue Jays completed a trade on Sunday with the New York Yankees.
Out went Ryan McBroom, and in came Rob Refsnyder – a 26-year-old utility player who has appeared in 20 MLB games this season, with little to show for it (more on that later).
On the surface, the deal appears low-risk enough, given McBroom’s advanced age (he’s 25 years old), and less-than-great production in double-A New Hampshire this season: a .243/.321/.402 slash line in 96 games.
Here’s a closer look at Refsnyder, who will report to the triple-A Buffalo Bisons.
Name: Rob Refsnyder
Position: Utility
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Age: 26
Place of birth: Seoul, South Korea
Height: 6-0
Weight: 200 pounds
Drafted: Fifth round, 187th overall by New York in 2012
Former school: University of Arizona
Was considered the Yankees’ second baseman of the future
Refsnyder was named the most outstanding player of the 2012 College World Series, and there was a time when he was considered one of the better prospects in baseball.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that Refsnyder was “rising like a meteor” in 2014, as New York was in its first season of the post-Robinson Cano era.
He was named the eighth-best prospect in the Yankees system after the 2015 season by Baseball America, though his path to become New York’s starting second baseman was effectively blocked by the team’s acquisition of Starlin Castro.
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Has had success in the minors
Refsnyder has acquitted himself well at every level of the minor leagues thus far in his career, getting on base despite a lack of power.
He has a career .292 batting average and and .372 on-base percentage in 286 games in triple-A.
Those numbers haven’t translated into major-league success yet, though Refsnyder did show promise after being called up to the Yankees near the end of the 2015 season – closing his season with hits in eight of his last nine games to finish the year with a .348 OBP and two home runs in 16 games.
Refsnyder has had time with the big club in each season since, including 58 games in 2016, but has struggled against big-league pitching, especially so in his 20 games with the Yankees this year – getting on base and striking out at the same rate (20 per cent). He hasn’t hit an MLB home run since 2015 either.
Can play several positions
The 26-year-old has moved around this year, having already seen time at second base, left field, right field, and first base in his 20 games with the Yankees. (He also came on as a pinch-hit DH once.)
That positional flexibility could prove useful to the Blue Jays, depending on how their ambitions for the July 31 trade deadline pan out. A sweep in Cleveland has positioned the team as near-certain sellers, and it could be useful to have someone like Refsnyder to fill holes down the stretch.
At the very least, his minor-league productivity will be a boon to the Bisons, who at 42-58 are tied for the third-worst record in the International League.
Adopted at five months old
Born Kim Jung-tae, he was just five months old when he was adopted by Americans Jane and Clint Refsnyder, moving to Laguna Hills, Calif., and taking the name Rob.
“I might make a joke, but I’ll never hide from being adopted,” he told the New York Times in 2015. “I’m proud of my family. I play for the name Refsnyder.”
Clint can likely be credited with fostering his son’s interest in sport – taking Rob to Los Angeles Angels and Lakers games when he was a child.
The elder Refsnyder was a college basketball player himself, playing at Muhlenberg College.