The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

, competing in the

Florida Complex League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

either as selections from the

Major League Baseball draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

or as non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

s. The team plays its home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough ...

. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Yankees, and fielded two squads in several seasons, differentiated by suffixes. The team (or one of its two squads) has won the league championship 12 times, most recently in 2017 by the GCL Yankees East squad.

History

The Yankees originally fielded a team in the

Sarasota Rookie League The Sarasota Rookie League was a minor baseball league that played in as a Rookie level league. All league games were played in Sarasota, Florida. The Sarasota Rookie League was succeeded in by the Florida Rookie League, which evolved into the ...

and the

Florida Rookie League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the lo ...

in 1964 and 1965, which were direct predecessors to the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

(GCL). The team competed in the GCL during 1966, then was absent from the league through 1979. Since 1980, the team has fielded at least one squad in the league each season. In 2013, the Yankees began fielding two squads in the league, originally differentiated by "1" and "2" suffixes. The suffixes were changed to "East" and "West" in 2016, as the squads played in the Northeast and Northwest division, respectively. In 2019, both teams moved into the North Division. Prior to the 2021 season, the Gulf Coast League was renamed as the

(FCL). The Yankees returned to fielding a single squad in 2021.

Season-by-season

Roster

Notable alumni

Hall of Famers: *

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most ...

(Inducted 2019) *

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

(Inducted 2020)

References

External links

GCL Yankees Roster
Baseball teams established in 1964 Florida Complex League teams Professional baseball teams in Florida New York Yankees minor league affiliates 1964 establishments in Florida Sports teams in Tampa, Florida {{Florida-baseball-team-stub