Tampa Tyme

That was a tough pill to swallow.

From the Rule 5 Draft side, Zippy Zappy did a great job providing his POV on his favorite player, Luis Torrens, getting selected in the Major League Rule 5 Draft. He’s obviously invested a lot of time, effort, and money into his Torrens collection. Luckily, there is a strong chance that Torrens will be returned to the Yankees given that he’d be clogging up a 40-man roster spot in likely Single A this season if the Padres were to keep him. You never know, though.

I was not quite so fortunate. I was shocked to see Ty Hensley get plucked in the minor league phase of the Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. Unlike the Majors portion, when a player is selected in the minor league portion *poof* he’s gone. So Ty Hensley is no longer a Yankee.

It’s a tough one. I have enjoyed collecting Hensley cards for the last four years. He’s been very generous to me on number occasions, from providing autographs to Twitter interactions to his mom doing a Q & A on my blog.

For those reasons, I’ll continue to collect Ty Hensley cards, and root like hell for him to make it to the Majors. Even if it’s not with the Yankees, knowing what he has gone through over the last few seasons, I’ll always be in his corner. Plus, he hasn’t had new cards in a few years – I wouldn’t mind adding some fresh ones, even if they are of him in a different organization. I hope this opportunity is what he has needed, and provides him with the fresh start to get his career back on track.

Plus, I’ve got a history of collecting a small portion of Rays cards, because this guy spent some time playing for them. Maybe it was fate.

Regardless, best of luck, Ty. I’ll be pulling for you, and I wish you nothing but the best. I’m not abandoning ship now…unless you start shutting down the Yankees.