The New York Yankees have cut a minor leaguer after he was found to have been stealing equipment from teammates and scamming fans out of money for autographed memorabilia. According to Brendan Kuty of NJ.com, former third-round MLB Draft pick Jake Sanford has been released by the Yankees organization after he was discovered to have been “repeatedly hounding his teammates for equipment” which he then would sell online.

Kuty also indicates that he would accept money from fans in exchange for autographed memorabilia, on which he would often fail to follow through, ultimately scamming them out of their money. Sanford was accused of frequently asking teammates for their game-worn equipment and occasionally stealing it directly from their locker.

He was released by the Yankees last week and has since signed with an Independent League team, the Ottawa Titans who play in the Frontier League.

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Sanford was the Yankees' third-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft and had been slowly working his way up the minor leagues. Between Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley in 2021, Sanford launched 16 home runs and maintained a sterling .285 batting average. Unfortunately, the Yankees weren't going to tolerate his petty antics and outright thievery, quickly ousting him once they learned what was going on in the clubhouse.

Sanford reportedly received a $597,500 signing bonus after joining the Yankees in 2019 and was ranked among the team's Top 30 prospects by MLB Pipeline prior to his release. Hopefully, he stored some of that signing bonus away in a savings account, because he may just have cost himself a career in MLB.