The Yankees gave up on Slade Heathcott last December – but they didn’t.
Heathcott provided one of the Yankees’ biggest swings of this season Monday night when he hit a three-run, tie-breaking homer to beat the Rays.
The Yankees had non-tendered Heathcott in early December, and within three minutes, his camp was contacted by six teams. That number would grow to about 15 within two days. But the interested clubs quickly learned the Yankees had non-tendered Heathcott to cope with a 40-man roster crunch, but had a wink-wink understanding to bring him back on a minor league deal.