The second Keynan Middleton realized the Yankees had traded for him, he rushed to the bathroom to shave his face.
A seventh-year veteran, the reliever knew about the Yankees’ expectations long before they dealt pitching prospect Juan Carela to the White Sox in exchange for him. “I knew that that wasn’t gonna fly,” Middleton said of his beard.
“I was ready to play by their rules because all I want to do is win games and do that however is possible,” Middleton told the Daily News and ESPN on Sunday. “That’s why coming here, looking the part, acting the part, doing the things they tell you to do – there’s just a culture here. You know how to act. You know how to go about your business. You know not to be late. You know there’s consequences if you are late.
“Did I want to shave my beard off? Hell no. I had to because I wanted to be here and I wanted to be a part of this. There wasn’t even a question.”
Middleton’s willingness to embrace the Yankees’ culture stems from the White Sox’s absence of one.
A day before he and his new team were set to play his old team in The Windy City, Middleton talked about how there were “no rules” in Chicago under rookie manager Pedro Grifol. Entering Monday’s series-opener, the Sox were 45-68 and in fourth place in the American League Central.
“I don’t know how you police good culture if there’s no rules and there’s no guidelines to follow, because it’s kind of just everybody doing their own thing,” Middleton, 29, said. “And then how are you supposed to say anything about it? Because there’s no rules.
“You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs, and there’s no consequences for any of this stuff.”
Asked if the lack of culture stemmed from Grifol and/or ownership, Middleton replied, “Leadership in general. I mean, they say s—t rolls downhill.”
It didn’t help that several of Chicago’s most established players participated in the World Baseball Classic, which overlapped with spring training. That contingent included Lance Lynn, Kendall Graveman, Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada, Luis Robert and Tim Anderson, who was recently involved in a fight with the Guardian’s José Ramirez.
Like Middleton, Lynn and Graveman were traded before the deadline.
“I feel like the guys who played in the WBC were our big dogs,” Middleton said. “Those are the guys that I feel like could police the things that were happening culturally.
“I feel like some guys just didn’t want to speak up when they should have. It’s hard to police people, though, when there’s no rules. Like if guys are doing things that you think are wrong, who is it wrong to? You or them? It’s up to everybody’s judgment at that point.”
Middleton said that he didn’t try to fill Chicago’s leadership void himself because he was in his first year with the team. “That’s not really who I am,” he added.
And since the problems predated his arrival, he felt he wasn’t the one to fix things.
“When I got there in spring training, I heard a lot of the same stuff was happening last year, and it’s kind of been happening again this year, so I’m not sure how I could have changed it. There’s not a guideline to follow. They don’t tell you not to miss PFPs. They don’t tell you not to miss meetings. If it happens, it’s just, ‘OK.’”
With the Yankees, Middleton is confident he won’t have to worry about others. He can just show up and pitch, which he’s done well since the trade. The right-hander totaled three scoreless innings over his first two appearances with the Yankees while adding five strikeouts and zero walks.
He’s yet to allow a hit.
Should he pitch in Chicago, Middleton is looking forward to striking out a few of his former teammates. And if not, he’s still hoping to see some people despite some of the dysfunction he witnessed.
“I can pack my stuff and see my friends,” Middleton said when asked if he was excited about the series-opener. “I’m still close with all of those guys. I’ll just leave it there.”
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