Jake Sanford’s new teammates wanted answers.

Sanford had abruptly gone from rising Yankees prospect to the Frontier League last year — and now came was a bombshell story alleging he had stolen from his former minor league teammates.

“[Sanford] had asked me if he could talk to his teammates and I said, ‘yeah,’ he talked to them and assured them that he was working through some things personally off the field,” Ottawa Titans manager Bobby Brown told The Post in a recent interview, “and they seemed to embrace him and wanted to give him a second chance, just like we did and kind of battled through that week as a group.

“And we kind of weathered the storm, and Jake ended up having a great year for us.”

Sanford, a third-round pick by the Yankees in the 2019 MLB Draft, was released by the Yankees last May in the wake of allegations that he stole from his teammates as a member of the franchise’s High-A affiliate, the Hudson Valley Renegades, as first reported by NJ Advance Media.

In an extensive feature published by Sportsnet in April, Sanford claimed he was not stealing from teammates. He revealed he suffered from crippling gambling addiction during his time with the Yankees, blowing through his entire $597,500 signing bonus roughly a year after finalizing his draft-day contract.

The 24-year-old outfielder, who hit a combined 16 home runs with a .823 OPS in Low-A and High-A in 2021 before his surprising release, said he is motivated to make good on a second chance in baseball.

“Being on the field was the only time I got to get away from everything,” Sanford told Sportsnet about his second foray into professional baseball. “I would get text messages [about debts] all the time when I was home — I just wanted to shut my phone off. But when I was on the field, I just thought about baseball.”

Sanford said he began to borrow money from teammates with interest and was unable to pay them back. Eventually, the Yankees released him.

Just days after his release, the Canadian native got a call to play for the Ottawa Titans, a club in the 16-team independent Frontier League.

Brown was confused why a talented outfielder who had impressive minor league numbers had been released.

“I didn’t really understand why [he wasn’t getting offers], and then I asked Jake why he got released and he was pretty upfront with me on what was going on with the Yankees,” Brown said.

“We talked to our ownership and relayed what Jake was telling us, and they gave me the green light to go ahead and give him an opportunity to come to Ottawa.”

Sanford excelled for the Titans, hitting .311/.377/.550 with 22 home runs over 91 games in Ottawa, making an impact on the field and in the clubhouse.

Brown said Sanford brought a kind of talent he usually didn’t see in the Frontier League.

“He was really good in our league,” he said. “He was really physical and strong. If he hits the ball square, it’s different than most minor league players. It’s just, the ball really jumps off.”

The lefty-swinging Sanford earned comparisons to Brett Gardner for his skill set of speed and power.

He was traded to the Sioux City Explorers of the independent league American Association for the 2023 season, where he’s struggled over the first half of the season to a .571 OPS and just two homers.

Brown is confident the young outfielder will rebound.

“That’s a good league. It’s advanced-level pitching, and the name of pro baseball is making adjustments,” Brown said. “I know that they got a good coaching staff in Sioux City and that he’ll eventually make some adjustments.”

Brown told Sportsnet in April he had been contacted by one MLB team about Sanford and provided a glowing review, telling the team Sanford was a “model citizen” and beloved by teammates.

For Sanford, who was a big part of Team Canada’s Pan American Games qualifying bid in June, taking advantage of his most recent chance is all he can hope for if he wants another shot with a major league organization.

Brown said Sanford has to take one important step before he thinks about making it back to the majors.

“I think the first step is him making an adjustment to the American Association pitching and putting up some numbers in that league, and then, I hope that somebody does give him another chance,” Brown said.