NEW YORK _ Jacoby Ellsbury's lengthy injury history prevented him from ever being the impact player the Yankees hoped they'd signed prior to the 2014 season.
Today, he's a footnote in Yankees history.
On Wednesday night, the Yankees released Ellsbury with one guaranteed year remaining on his massive, albatross seven-year contract.
The Yankees also released oft-injured first baseman Greg Bird and lefty Nelson Cortes Jr., in order to add seven players to their 40-man roster.
Faced with an 8 p.m. MLB roster freeze ahead of the Dec. 12 Rule 5 draft, the Yankees protected top prospects in right-hander Deivi Garcia and center fielder Estevan Florial, along with five other young pitchers.
The Yankees 40-man roster stands at 40.
Following a seven-year career with the rival Red Sox that included world championships in 2007 and 2013, Ellsbury signed a $153 million contract during a Yankees offseason that included the additions of Masahiro Tanaka and Carlos Beltran.
As a Yankee, the lefty-hitting Ellsbury, 36, batted .264 with 39 homers and 198 RBIs in 520 games.
Ellsbury is still owed roughly $26.1 million from the Yankees; he's to earn just over $21.1 million in 2020, with a $5 million buyout of his 2021 option.
Even at the time, the Ellsbury signing was widely viewed as a poor investment.
Despite the foresight of having seen the deterioration of a similar slash-and-run AL East outfielder in Carl Crawford, the Yankees overbid for Ellsbury, already age 30, with an injury history.
And they had, in place, a solid center fielder under contract in Brett Gardner, who moved to left field to accommodate Ellsbury.
Gardner, 36, may yet be the Yankees' regular center fielder again in 2020, though negotiations for the center fielder had recently gone cold.
Mike Tauchman is the Yankees' current in-house candidate to open the season in center field, with Aaron Hicks expected to be out until August, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery to his right elbow.
Three times, Ellsbury led the AL in stolen bases but he'd never come close to replicating his only All-Star season, in 2011, when he finished second in AL MVP balloting.
That year, Ellsbury batted .321 with 32 homers, 105 RBIs and a .928 OPS, winning the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards.
