Yankees evacuate staff, players from Florida as Hurricane Milton bears down

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With Hurricane Milton bearing down on the west coast of Florida – supposed to make landfall early Thursday morning – the Yankees were among those making preparations.

The organization, of course, trains at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, which currently is directly in the path of what is expected to be a historically bad storm, and, located about a mile from there, is the organization's minor league complex.

In addition to the many club employees who live in Tampa, more than a few players – including Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu – have homes there.

“We evacuated, shut down instructional league a few days ago, got our alternate side [big-leaguers who could be added to the ALDS roster if there’s an injury or just available for the next round if the team advances] out of there as well,” GM Brian Cashman said on the field at Kauffman Stadium before Game 3. “We certainly are keeping our thoughts and prayers for everyone in that state because everybody knows how bad this thing is supposed to be…this is the real world right now. Obviously, Florida just took a devastating blow [with Hurricane Helene at the end of September] and now they’ve got this one. It’s just real scary stuff. Hope and pray everybody can be safe and the damage is minimal, but probably not going to be the case.”

Aaron Boone called the storm “a dose of perspective.”

“We have a handful of guys have places down there and we’re based there [as an organization] and it’s an uncertain time,” Boone said. “Just have to pray for the best and hope for safety for people.”

According to a team spokesperson, Steinbrenner Field is being used as “a shelter for our employees down their and their families.”

With Anthony Rieber