OK, so let’s say I’m a long-haired, bearded hippybilly outfielder who, against his desires, gets traded to the Yankees.
Suppose I say, “screw you” to the powers that be who traded for me when they tell me to get a haircut.
Then what happens? Have there been any precedents?
Is getting a haircut in your contract?
Are you really good?
The Yankees will once again change their rules to match.
Are you mediocre?
They’ll probably suspend you (with pay) until you comply.
The rules are already drastically relaxed from what they used to be. Don Mattingly was a tester of the policy back in the day. More about Don, other players facing the issue, and their recent relaxation can be found here.
The best-known example was outfielder Oscar Gamble, who sported a very impressive Afro when he played for the Indians in the 1970s; he even had an endorsement deal with Afro-Sheen haircare products:
After the 1974 season, he was traded to the Yankees, where his hairstyle would be unacceptable due to their policy. He eventually agreed to trim his hair, and in return, Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner reimbursed Gamble for the lost revenue from the Afro-Sheen endorsement.
In more recent times, several players, including Brian Wilson and David Price, have refused to sign with the Yankees as free agents. However, those were situations in which the players had leverage, and were able to choose where to sign; if a player who had long hair or a bushy beard were traded to the Yankees, they likely wouldn’t have much leverage.
However, especially now that George Steinbrenner is deceased, even in the case of a trade, if the Yankees were pursuing a guy who was known for long hair or a long beard, I imagine that they would feel out the player’s willingness to comply. OTOH, if the guy being traded to the Yankees isn’t a star player, they might well get traded even if they didn’t want to cut their hair.
John Brown before signing with the Yankees:
John Brown after joining the team:
@Jackmannii belts one out of Yankee Stadium.
Certainly one of the greatest Yankees of them all.
They still look like they could shave their sideburns a little more.
Another impressive example belonged to Nino Espinosa of the Mets.
Another example, although I don’t know if he argued against the rule.
Johnny Damon, Red Sox, 2002–2005
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Johnny Damon, Yankees, 2006–2009
https://imgur.com/gallery/yankees-haircut-rule-DuNwJq5
Added — unfortunately the software has changed and now I don’t know how to embed the second picture from that imgur post.
There are photos of Damon in the article I linked to, he was the first person I thought of.
Didn’t read your article. He was the first person I thought of also.
I’m not looking for players who went to the Yankees of their own free will (thus implicitly agreeing to the tonsorial restrictions). My question concerns players who were traded there, not of their own volition.
To which @DMC and I both provided examples and articles: Oscar Gamble, Randy Johnson, and Andrew McCutcheon, for three examples, all were starters/veteran players who were traded there, and having previously worn long hair which would have violated the Yankees’ rule, cut their hair.
I am unaware of a player with long hair (or a long beard) who was traded to the Yankees, and then simply refused to comply with their rule. The only example I’ve seen in articles of a player who seems to have defied them, to the point of being held out of a game due to it, was Don Mattingly, and he had already been a member of the Yankees for a decade at that point.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Devin Williams. He was traded to the Yankees this last off-season. He has traditionally sported a pretty long beard. After arriving at Spring camp, he shaved it, and really hated it. He took his concerns to management, and the Yankees subsequently changed their 49 year old policy to allow for well-groomed facial hair.
The 2025 change is to allow well-groomed beards. They had always allowed “well-groomed” mustaches and sideburns.
Also, FWIW, I’m not sure that I’d call Williams’ beard, when he was with the Brewers, “pretty long,” but it was certainly a full beard, and certainly would have been in violation of the Yankees’ previous policy.
Do you think that the beard of Jake Bird (traded from the Rockies to N.Y. at the deadline) qualified as “well-groomed” according to Yankee standards? 
*poor Jake had a bit of a rough outing for his new team tonight, giving up 4 ER in 1/3 inning of work as the Yankees blew a late 10-4 lead to the Marlins and ended up losing 13-12.
Given this picture of him from yesterday or today, the answer was clearly “no.”
Nice job shaving all that off without any nicks or scratches.
