Top NYY Could-Have-Beens: Mason Williams

As cringe-worthy as it might be to remember the phrase Baby Bombers, the only thing more cringe-worthy was the Yankees farm system before them.

Despite what fans think of as a disappointment with respect to Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, or Luis Severino, we at least have actual memories of all of them.

Mason Williams, though? Not so much.

Williams represented the last vestige of everything wrong with Yankees amateur scouting pre-Baby Bombers.

This should sound familiar: a way-over-slot ($1.5 million) toolsy high school player from Florida (West Orange HS) is lured from college (University of South Carolina).

He also had a familial pedigree, with his father Derwin Williams having played three seasons as a wide receiver for the New England Patriots.

This was pre-Austin Wells or Clarke Schmidt, and whether it was Williams or someone like Cito Culver or Dante Bichette Jr., it was surprising to see an analytically-inclined front office target the riskiest, fuzziest talents they could find.

Lo and behold, while Williams was better than those top picks, he was not actually a five-tool player.

Years In Yankees Organization: 2010-17 How They Left: Granted free agency in November 2017 Career MLB Yankees Statistics: 25 games, 68 PA, .281/.313/.391, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 88 OPS+, -0.2 rWAR Career MLB Statistics: 7 seasons, 114 games, 289 PA, .265/.308/.366, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 81 OPS+, -0.4 rWAR As it goes for all prospects, there actually needs to be some success sprinkled in to enter the conversation.

In his first season after being drafted, he was named the 2011 New York-Penn League (RIP) MVP, hitting to a .349/.395/.468 triple slash with 28 stolen bases.

Even just scouting the stat line, you can see the red flags, as in that environment, he was able to put up a near-.400 BABIP and post those numbers while barely walking.

Thats not a death knell for a young prospect, but it cant exactly be ignored either.

This overall line, likely unfairly, put him on the radar of every prospect writer and sent him on to most Top 100 lists for the 2012 season, vaulting him to that distinction on all of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and MLB.com s lists, albeit at the back quarter.

Keith Law stated that ...he has the hip rotation and leverage to hit for real power when hes not quite so skinny.

His bat is quick, but his stride is very long and he glides on to his front side, so he doesnt have as much time as he should to pick up off-speed pitch.

2012 proved to be the glitch in the matrix.

After a torrid start that earned him a promotion from Low-A Charleston to High-A Tampa, his season ended abruptly with a dislocated shoulder on July 25th .

Scouts still found aspects to like about his profile despite the injury, and he found himself as the 32nd, 41st, and 51st-best prospect by Baseball America, MLB.com , and Baseball Prospectus, respectively.

Like many, many prospect stories, that was the peak of the mountain.

Williams never cracked the top 50 again, and he never quite had the results of 2012.

Following an April DUI incident , he posted just a .641 OPS across High-A and Double-A in 2013.

Despite shiny defense , many could see the cracks forming: to begin the 2014 season, Williams only made MLB.coms Top 100.

Despite a 2014 season that one would generously call a setback (a .593 OPS in 128 games in Double-A), there was at least some hope he could crack the big-league roster when the organization decided to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

Williams did in fact earn the crack in the following season, and you can honestly say that you can never take away his debut week.

He homered in Baltimore for his first major-league hit in just his second career game and also made a terrific catch on a Matt Wieters drive to right-center the following day.

Williams hit three more big-league home runs in his career, and none for the Yankees.

The honeymoon period would very literally be a week, as he had to be put on the injured list because he, of all things, separated his right shoulder while diving back to first base.

Despite not seeming like a notable injury, rehab led to failed rehab which led to season-ending surgery.

Absolutely brutal.

Its always humbling when a moment and a time just isnt right, and someone who could have been a playermaybe not a Hall of Fame-caliber player but a significant one on a contending team like those Baby Bombers wereslips away.

Williams got further call-ups during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, overlapping with the start of the Aaron Judge Era.

But by that point, the Yankees only had so much faith in him and he made just 46 plate appearances between the two years.

Williams elected free agency on November 6, 2017, and signed a minor-league deal with the Reds 10 days later.

Coming off a 94-loss season, Cincinnati was willing to see if the former top prospect had that ceiling still in the tank.

He wasnt bad per se, but he was almost exactly replacement-level, batting .293/.331/.398 with a 95 OPS+ and 0.2 fWAR in 51 games.

Williams actually stuck around for a little longer than one would collectively remember, as he played 21 games off the bench for two more lowly clubs, the 2019-20 Orioles.

He even hung on until the post-COVID season, logging 17 games and a home run for the 2021 New York Mets : Williams once again entered the released-and-then-elected-free-agency carousel at the end of the 2021 campaign.

This time, though, the interest wasnt there at age 30, and he never played a professional game again.

Lets pour one out for Mason Williams, the outfielder who could have been patrolling center field for the Yankees in another universe.

Sources Baseball Reference Desrochers, Brendan.

Yankees Williams arrested for DUI.

MiLB.com.

April 25, 2013.

Marchand, Andrew.

Laws Top 100: Manny B.

is No.

23, Williams No.

34.

ESPN .

February 9, 2012.

Mearns, Andrew.

Yankees Top 10 Prospect Mason Williams Out for Season with Shoulder Surgery.

Pinstripe Alley.

August 3, 2012.

Hoch, Bryan.

Williams exits with jammed right shoulder.

MLB.com.

June 19, 2015.

Previously on Top Could-Have-Been Yankees Ivan Nova Full List (to date).

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