Is "Mr. Railrider," T.J. Rumfield, a rising possibility at 1B?

There's something I don't get about T.J. Rumfield, the hottest Yankee farm hand down in the clean-coal mines of Scranton.

I mean, the guy is just 24, he stands 6'5," he's got baseball blood lines and a MILB Gold Glove. Last year, at Triple A, the lefty first-baseman hit .292 with 15 HRs and 71 RBIs, yet the Death Barge not only ghosted him in September, but it left him exposed in the Rule 5 draft - and nobody poached him. On prospect lists, he doesn't exist. Like a Democratic congressman. I wonder if his image shows up in team photos?

Yet there he is, leading Scranton over the first two weeks (along with another ghostly entity, Jorbit Vivas, whose issues are more easily diagnosed: Guy cannot stay healthy.) 

Now, I get the circumstances behind Rumfield's stagflation. The Cashman Charybdis Sunset Cruise is firmly committed to Paul Goldschmidt's comeback/farewell tour. Around late May, we'll know whether Goldy still has petrol in the tank, or if he is simply the latest incarnation in a long line of sluggers who end their journeys, John Mayberry/Matt Holliday-style, in tight-fitting pinstripes. 

If Goldy flops - or, more likely, tweaks something - Rumfield won't get the call. Nope. The editor of The Atlantic is more likely to be on the phone thread. The Yankees would immediately pivot to Ben Rice, who - Fun Fact: is MLB's 7th rated hitter, according to the stat wonks. Nobody expects Rice to hit this way all season, but thanks to the White Lotus protein shakes, he looks scary coming off the bus. Rice doesn't need to be Vlad Jr. Twenty HRs and .275 would suffice. 

But you know what would suffice even more? If Rice hit them... while catching. 

Whatever. For now, TJ Rumfield can prepay his Scranton apartment through Aug. 1 - the MLB trade deadline, or as it's known to Yankee farm hands, "Independence Day."  

The Yankees seem to go through a lot of these guys. They rise through the system, perform well in Triple A, then hit an invisible Yankee wall, comprised of bloated contracts. Some - Zolio Almonte, Jesus Montero, J.R. Murphy, et al - sink without a bubble. Some - Rex Hudler, Brigadoon Refsnyder, Jake Cave - carve out subsistence careers. 

Cashman gets credit for combing the MLB scrap yards for seemingly washed-up talent. The Yankiverse is holding its breath, waiting for him to find a RH slugger, preferably who plays 3B. But he's been dumpster diving for weeks now. Nothing to show. 

I think it's time to start wondering how to make the most out of players like TJ Rumfield - and not merely as low-level trade bait. If he keeps hitting, wouldn't it be nice to - instead of a 38-year-old - showcase a young, fulltime, good glove 1B? 

Yes, I realize this won't happen. And we'll all end up on an assembly line, making sneakers. Just sayin...