In a rambling, conspiracy-laced lawsuit, a failed prospect, who never played above High-A and had a career batting average of .244, sued the Yankees for $34 million and blamed Yankees legend Derek Jeter for derailing his career as a shortstop, presumably because the soon-to-be Hall of Famer was afraid of the competition.

It was a wild swing and a miss.

In the lawsuit, dismissed by a judge in May, Garrison Lassiter used letters, newspaper clippings and scouting reports to weave a strange tale of conspiracy that he said was launched against him “to protect the career of Derek Jeter.” He alleged that it was “blantanly (sic) obvious” that Jeter controlled the Yankees organization, and he insisted Yankees employees libeled and slandered him to other teams, preventing him from reaching the major leagues.

The reason? “To protect the career of Derek Jeter.”

Lassiter, who acted as his own attorney after putting himself through law school, said he is broke and has had to sleep in his car, having gone through the $675,000 signing bonus the Yankees gave him in 2008. According to the lawsuit, Lassiter, now 30, sued the Yankees because he wanted to get what he deserved “for the interference and lost years” of his pro career.

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“I cannot get on the field due to the New York Yankees trying to control my career,” he wrote in all caps to several major league teams, looking for deals that never came. “I’m the only Baseball Player that will stand up to the New York Yankees,” he added in the final page of the document, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

But when the lawsuit against the most renowned sports franchise was tossed, the light-hitting infielder took another swing – this time at the Cincinnati Reds, whom he sued for $1.635 million on Dec. 30 – the equivalent of three years of the major-league minimum salary.

That lawsuit was filed 11 days after he sued Proehlific Park, a North Carolina training complex owned by former NFL wide receiver and Hillsborough, N.J. native Ricky Proehl. Lassiter, a who signed with the Yankees over a college football career, says Proehl’s facility failed to get him an NFL tryout.

In a Hail Mary letter to Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels in January 2018, Lassiter wrote, “I’ll never play for the New York Yankees … a Team that doesn’t understand the importance of giving respect to the Players that help the Organization win. These are the facts big dawg.”

Efforts to contact Lassiter through social media, multiple phone numbers and several email addresses filed with the lawsuit were unsuccessful. Spokesman for the Yankees and Reds declined comment.

Not everyone shares Lassiter’s belief that the Yankees were holding him back.

Some think he just wasn't very good at baseball.

“Offensively, he was OK,” said Aaron Ledesma, who managed Lassiter at Low-A Charleston in 2011. “He was below average. Not much power, didn’t really hit for a high average. Speed-wise, he was below average.”

That season, Lassiter played with current Yankees catchers Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka and reliever Tommy Kahnle.

“He had good size but I think his lack of footwork kept him from playing shortstop, and I believe the Yankees moved him over to third base, which I don’t think he was happy about,” said Ledesma, who played five big-league seasons. “He tried to make it as a third baseman and he just didn’t have the bat to play that position.”

Lassiter’s best season arguably was in 2011, when he hit .274 with a home run and 23 RBI in 64 games. The Yankees released him the next year.

Ledesma added that while Lassiter was “nice kid,” he “wasn’t high” on the Yankees’ playing-time priority list.

Ledesma’s scouting report drew a hard contrast with what Lassiter sees in the mirror: a two-sport star.

In the lawsuit against the Yankees, Lassiter considers himself as a mix of Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year winner who made it farther than Lassiter did by age 20, and Brandon Weeden, a former Yankees pitching prospect went on to play parts of five seasons as an NFL quarterback.

Lassiter decided the Yankees owed him $17.468 million, based off what Seager had made.

Then he said the Yankees should fork over to him another $11.598 million, citing Weeden’s earnings but admitting the figure was a “guesstimate.”

(After the Yankees released Lassiter, he redshirted at quarterback for University of Miami, never appearing in a game. Lassiter said Miami kicked him out of the program in 2014 for rallying the team and asking head coach Al Golden to make him the starter.)

Finally, Lassiter wanted another $5.6 million to cover for a basketball career he never had.

“It seems my career has stalled at the Fault of the New York Yankees Organization,” Lassiter wrote to David Frantz, general counsel for the Royals. “Buy why?”

Naturally, Lassiter blamed the Yankees.

In a 2016 letter to then-player development head Gary Denbo, Lassiter complains that the Yankees moved him off shortstop, didn’t play him enough and gave him undeserved demotions.

Another former Yankees official had an easier explanation.

“Things didn’t work out,” said Mark Newman, who ran the Yankees’ farm system until 2015. “Baseball’s a hard game. Professional baseball’s really hard. That was it.

“You look at his performance, and (the statistics website) Baseball Reference answers your questions.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.