ROBERTSON David

General
MLB VETERAN
He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 17th round, 524th overall pick, of the 2006 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut for the Yankees in 2008 against the New York Mets, and went on to make more than 400 MLB appearances for the Yankees from 2008 to 2014, during which time he won the 2009 World Series. In late 2014 he elected free agency and was signed by the Chicago White Sox, for whom he would make more than 150 appearances before being traded back to the Yankees in 2017, where he made another 99 MLB appearances. In October 2018 he elected free agency and was signed in January 2019 by the Philadelphia Phillies. He made seven MLB appearances for the Phillies before ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery in August 2019. He became a free agent once again in October 2020. (mlb.com, 01 Jun 2021; baseball-reference.com, 16 Jun 2021)

RETURN TO TEAM USA
He previously represented the United States of America at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, where he won a gold medal, and after not being signed as a free agent by an MLB team in the spring of 2021 he asked the US team if there was any possibility he could join the national squad. "It [the 2017 World Baseball Classic] was like a game seven of the playoffs every game. It was definitely something I was really glad I got the opportunity to do and I would rank it up there with getting into the playoffs and potentially winning a World Series. I would put it at that level of excitement. I actually contacted Paul Seiler [CEO of USA Baseball] about it and asked him if I could be a part of it [the Olympic Games in Tokyo] once spring training kind of came and went and I didn't end up landing with a team. I called him up and asked him if there was an opportunity for me to join. He said absolutely. And from then on it was just training to get ready for that. I've never been to Japan. I think it would be a cool trip. It would definitely be special. Any time you've got the 'USA' across your chest, it's special. I would love to get back into MLB, but I need the right fit and the right contract for that to happen. I'm just going to kind of enjoy this whole experience and see whatever happens, happens." (USA Baseball Twitter profile, 08 Jun 2021; nypost.com, 29 May 2021; al.com, 31 May 2021; baseballamerica.com, 27 May 2021)