Derek Dietrich
Nathan Ray Seebeck | USA TODAY Sports

Yankees minor league infielder Derek Dietrich has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for the stimulant DMPA.

Dietrich, 33, was batting .259 with nine home runs and 38 RBI across Double and Triple-A ball. He spent last season in the Yankees’ system as well as that of the Nationals. Prior to that, Dietrich played eight seasons with the Marlins, Reds, and Rangers. He hit a career-high 19 home runs for Cincinnati in 2019.

This is likely the end of the road for Dietrich, both with the Yankees and elsewhere. He was never a particularly strong player to begin with and had no clear path to the majors in New York’s system. Marwin Gonzalez is already capable as a utility man with the big league club. If he goes down, familiar face Tyler Wade will get called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Not to mention, the Yankees have shortstop prospect Oswald Peraza knocking on the door.

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Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.