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Yankees Notes: Hampton, Schmidt, Pereira

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Right-hander Chase Hampton was in camp with the Yankees as a non-roster invitee but isn’t present at the moment. Manager Aaron Boone tells members of the media, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, that Hampton has a right flexor strain and “something going on in the UCL,” which has led the club to send him to New York for further testing.

It’s an ominous bit of news for the young righty, as the ulnar collateral ligament is the one repaired in Tommy John surgery. If it is determined that he will require some surgical work on his elbow, he’ll be looking at missing the 2025 season and part of 2026 as well.

Hampton, 23, isn’t likely to factor into the club’s short-term plans regardless. The Yankees have a crowded rotation as it is, with Marcus Stroman reportedly on the trade block as the club has Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt. The club also has JT Brubaker, Will Warren and others on the roster as depth. Hampton isn’t yet on the 40-man and hasn’t reached Triple-A yet, so he has a steep hill to climb to get to the majors.

Still, it wouldn’t be ideal for him to face a lengthy absence. One of the club’s top pitching prospects, injuries were also a big part of his 2024. Various ailments, including a flexor strain, limited him to 18 2/3 innings in the minors last year. That means a lengthy surgical recovery could lead to him pitching very little over the 2024-2026 seasons, a massive dent in what ideally would have been key development time.

Turning back to the big league rotation, Schmidt has an issue of his own, though it seems far more minor. Per Greg Joyce of The New York Post, Boone said that Schmidt has a “cranky back” but it seemingly won’t be a significant drag on him. He threw from flat ground today and will do so again on Friday. It’s a situation to monitor but doesn’t seem to be a big concern unless there’s a setback.

In the position player mix, outfielder Everson Pereira will be limited to designated hitter duties until the middle of March, per Hoch. The young outfielder underwent UCL surgery on his elbow in June. Position players can return from such procedures faster than pitchers but it seems he’s still going to be limited for the next few weeks.

One of the club’s top position player prospects in recent years, Pereira is “very much in the mix” for a roster spot, according to Boone. Pereira has only hit .151/.233/.194 in the majors so far, but in a small sample of 103 plate appearances. He has a much stronger line of .287/.365/.530 in his Triple-A career while playing all three outfield spots.

The Yankees project to have an outfield of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Jasson Domínguez, with Trent Grisham on the bench. They will also need another bench spot for a backup catcher. The three-man competition for third base involving DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera could lead to two of those guys also taking up bench spots. That might squeeze out Pereira, especially since he’s reportedly eligible for a fourth option this year, but there are no guarantees that everyone will stay healthy over the next few weeks.

White Sox Claim Owen White

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The White Sox have claimed right-hander Owen White off waivers from the Yankees, according to announcements from both clubs. The latter club had designated him for assignment last week. The Sox moved left-hander Ky Bush to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding move. It was reported last week that Bush would require Tommy John surgery, so he’ll spend the entire 2025 season on the IL.

White, 25, is a logical pickup for the White Sox. He has had rough results for the past two years but was a top 100 prospect before that. The Sox aren’t expecting to be good anytime soon, with their 2024 season being historically bad. Of the 30 clubs in the league, they are the one best positioned to take a flier and hope for a bounceback. White also has one option year remaining, so he can be kept in Triple-A throughout 2025 as the club gets a close-up look at him.

Drafted by the Rangers with the 55th overall pick in 2018, White’s debut was delayed for a while. Tommy John surgery prevented him from pitching in 2019 and then the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. But despite that lengthy layoff, he went on to put up some eye-popping numbers once on the hill. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he logged 115 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.42 earned run average. He had a strong 7.5% walk rate and a massive 34.1% strikeout rate.

Going into 2023, he was a consensus top 100 prospect, with Baseball America giving him the #59 spot. The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. But as alluded to earlier, his results have tapered off significantly since then.

He has made his major league debut, which surely wasn’t what he dreamed of. In seven big league frames to this point, he has allowed 13 earned runs, giving him an ugly 16.71 ERA at the moment. His minor league numbers haven’t been great either. He threw 151 1/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock over 2023 and 2024 with a 5.41 ERA. The Express play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but he also didn’t impress with his 17.4% strikeout rate nor his 11.7% walk rate.

The Rangers did get experimental with White midway through 2024, giving him a shot at a relief role. In his final 13 Triple-A appearances on the year, he logged 18 frames from the bullpen. His 5.50 ERA still wasn’t impressive but he did strike out 25.6% of batters faced in that time.

That wasn’t enough for him to hang onto his roster spot. He was designated for assignment in December and traded to the Reds for cash. He was designated for assignment again in late January and put on waivers, with the Sox passing at that time. Given their record last year, they have top waiver priority, but he was claimed by the Yankees. But since then, the 60-day IL has opened up, which gave Chicago a bit more flexibility to make an addition such as this.

The Sox can bring White into camp and see how things go. Perhaps he can get back on track as a starter or find new life with a move to a relief role. As mentioned, they don’t need to give him a spot on the active roster this year. He still has less than a year of service time, so they could cheaply control him for years to come if things click while he’s on the roster.

Yankees Sign Rob Zastryzny To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees announced Monday morning that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Rob Zastryzny to a minor league deal and invited him to join their major league camp. Zastryzny was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week and outrighted after he went unclaimed on waivers. However, the veteran southpaw had the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency. The Cubs never formally announced that he did so, but this morning’s announcement from the Yankees makes it clear that’s how things played out.

Zastryzny, 32, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons and tallied nearly two full years of MLB service. He tossed 7 2/3 innings with the 2024 Brewers and allowed only one run four hits and a walk with five strikeouts. He’s also seen big league time with the Cubs, Mets, Angels and Pirates, combining for a 4.30 earned run average in 67 innings.

Zastryzny has fanned 18.2% of his opponents against a 10.5% walk rate. His 44.8% ground-ball rate is only a couple ticks better than average, but he’s excelled when it comes to keeping the ball in the yard, limiting opponents to an average of just 0.40 homers per nine frames. Lefties have been particularly inept against him, batting just .189/.319/.232 in 113 plate appearances. Conversely, righties have torched the 6’3″ southpaw at a .311/.372/.447 clip. Zastryzny posted a 3.03 ERA in Triple-A last season and carries a career 4.69 mark in parts of eight seasons at that level (409 innings).

The Yankees’ only left-hander in the bullpen at the moment is Tim Hill, who re-signed in the Bronx on a one-year deal earlier this month. Zastryzny joins fellow veteran Tyler Matzek as a seasoned non-roster invitee in camp. He’ll compete for a spot alongside Hill in the ’pen, though there are enough notable unsigned veterans that it’s possible the Yankees could still bring someone in on a guaranteed deal.

Giancarlo Stanton Behind In Camp Due To Elbow Soreness

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Feb. 17: Stanton tells reporters that the pain level he’s currently experiencing is “very high” in both elbows, adding that it’s been three to four weeks since he swung a bat (via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). Both Stanton and Boone compared the issue to tennis elbow, with Stanton noting that there’s some degree of tendon tearing in each elbow that’d be at risk for surgery if he were to “blow it up” by “overdoing” it while dealing with the injury (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). However, that’s not a concern at this time, Stanton emphasized.

Feb. 16: Yankees position players reported to camp today ahead of their first full-squad workout tomorrow, and the injury updates have already begun to creep in. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner) today that both veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton and center fielder Trent Grisham are behind in camp due to injuries. Stanton is suffering from soreness in both elbows, while Grisham is dealing with a hamstring issue. Grisham’s injury appears to be of relatively little concern, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch notes that he’s already resumed baseball activities and is running at near full strength again. Stanton’s issue, however, appears to be more serious. Hoch relays that Boone was noncommittal about Stanton’s timeline when asked if the issue could impact the slugger’s availability for Opening Day.

“I don’t know,” Boone said (as relayed by Hoch). “I’m not going to put any timeline on it. We’re just going to be smart about it.”

Stanton’s health has been tricky for the Yankees to navigate over the years, but the fact that his latest ailment is an upper body issue is worth noting. The 35-year-old has made a number of trips to the injured list over his seven years in a Yankees uniform, but all but one of those IL stints have been due to lower half issues pertaining to his hamstrings, calves, or knees. The lone exception to that was a biceps strain that sidelined him early in the 2019 season, which ultimately cost him six weeks of the regular season.

Losing Stanton to start the year would be a frustrating development for a Yankees lineup that already lost Juan Soto and Gleyber Torres in free agency. While the additions of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to the lineup should be improvements over the difficult seasons Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo had last year, the club is currently set to rely on internal options in the form of Jasson Dominguez, Oswaldo Cabrera, and DJ LeMahieu to fill in the holes in left field and at third base. The loss of Stanton would serve to further thin out the club’s lineup card.

The club’s internal options seem unlikely to offer anything close to the solid .233/.298/.475 (116 wRC+) that Stanton posted in 2024, but outfield prospect Everson Pereira is healthy entering Spring Training after having his 2024 campaign cut short by UCL surgery. Pereira has a solid .287/.365/.530 slash line in 75 career games at the Triple-A level but struggled in a 27-game cup of coffee at the big league level in 2023. Another option could be first baseman/catcher Ben Rice, a bat-first prospect who was called up to fill in for Rizzo at first base last year but has returned to catching over the offseason and figures to compete for the club’s back-up catcher spot behind Austin Wells.

Yankees Move Clayton Beeter To Relief Pitching

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Clayton Beeter has started 83 of his 92 career minor league games, but going forward, the right-hander will be used as a relief pitcher, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake told the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.  “As we got through last year, [Beeter’s] fastball-slider mix is super powerful and is best suited for relief,” Blake said.  “We decided to lean into the swing-and-miss of the fastball at the top of the zone and the slider at the bottom.  We thought it might even play up in short bursts.”

The news isn’t too surprising, as ever since Beeter was a second-round selection for the Dodgers in the 2020 draft, some pundits have felt he would ultimately end up as a reliever at the big league level.  Baseball America placed Beeter 21st on its most recent ranking of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects, and described the righty as a potential candidate for multi-inning relief work.  The 26-year-old Beeter has actually only pitched in the majors as a reliever, as all three of his MLB appearances (3 2/3 total innings) came out of New York’s bullpen last season.

As Blake noted, Beeter relies heavily on a two-pitch arsenal, with a changeup and curveball used sparingly at the Triple-A level.  Beeter’s fastball generally sits in the low 90’s but has topped out at 96mph, according to BA’s scouting report, and more velocity could be unlocked with this move to the bullpen.  Beeter’s 60-grade slider is his most effective pitch, helping fuel much of the strikeout ability he has exhibited over his minor league career.  Across an even 300 innings in the minors, Beeter has a very impressive 33.1% strikeout rate.

All those missed bats have come with a 12.7% walk rate, and the lack of control is another reason why the Yankees feel Beeter might benefit most from relief work.  There’s also the health factor — Beeter was limited to 39 innings over 12 appearances in 2024 after shoulder problems cost him close to four months of the Triple-A season.  Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty) earlier this week that Beeter was dealing with another “shoulder issue” during the offseason but is back throwing side sessions.

Shifting Beeter to the pen makes sense as a bigger-picture move in the pitcher’s career, and the Yankees have enough rotation options on hand that they can probably afford to remove a starter from the depth chart.  The club has six starting candidates on the active roster alone depending on Marcus Stroman’s status as either a reliever or possible trade chip, and such pitchers as Will Warren, Yoendrys Gomez, and Brent Headrick are available at Triple-A.  New York also brought in Allan Winans on a waiver claim, and signed longtime veteran Carlos Carrasco to a minor league contract.

Since Beeter has two minor league options remaining, Sherman suggests that the right-hander will probably begin the 2025 season in Triple-A.  This will also allow Beeter to more fully ramp up after his injury-plagued 2024 campaign, and get used to his new bullpen role.  If all goes well, Beeter should receive a call-up at some point next season once injuries or a need for a fresh arm inevitably arises, and he’ll then get a chance to carve out a spot for himself as a regular member of the Yankees’ relief corps.

Yankees Notes: Boone, Cousins, Loaisiga, Rice

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As the Yankees get camp underway, they’re likely to prioritize hammering out a new contract with Aaron Boone. Owner Hal Steinbrenner told the YES Network last month that the team planned to open extension talks with their eighth-year manager, whose deal expires at the end of the season. Those discussions have begun.

Boone revealed earlier this week that he and the Yankees have had some conversations about an extension (relayed by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). General manager Brian Cashman confirmed that this afternoon, saying that negotiations are ongoing (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). It seems inevitable that they’ll work something out, with Cashman indicating a deal could get done before Opening Day (relayed by Chris Kirschner of The Athletic).

Teams typically prefer to avoid having managers or top front office personnel working on expiring contracts. The Yankees bucked that trend in 2021, when they allowed Boone to manage as a lame duck for nearly the entire season. With his deal set to expire at the conclusion of that year’s World Series, the sides hammered out a three-year extension in the middle of October. That included a ’25 club option on which Boone is currently set to manage. It doesn’t appear we’ll get a repeat of that scenario.

As is the case for many teams, the start of Spring Training also brought a few injury and position battle updates. Most notably, Boone revealed that righty reliever Jake Cousins suffered an offseason forearm strain (link via Greg Joyce of The New York Post). He is midway through a 3-4 week period where he’s completely shut down from throwing. Cousins could start a throwing program as soon as next week, but the delay raises the possibility of a season-opening injured list stay.

New York acquired Cousins in a trade with the White Sox just after last year’s Opening Day. The righty had signed a minor league deal with Chicago but didn’t break camp. The Yankees immediately called him up and were rewarded with a career-best season. Cousins pitched to a 2.37 ERA with a massive 34.2% strikeout rate across 38 innings. Initially consigned to mop-up work, he pitched his way into increasingly higher-leverage spots in the final couple months of the season.

Cousins has missed a lot of bats throughout his four-year big league career, which he has split between Milwaukee and New York. He’s been held back somewhat by scattershot command, but his injury history has been the biggest obstacle. Cousins missed time in 2023 with shoulder inflammation and lost a good chunk of the ’22 season to an elbow effusion. That required a platelet-rich plasma injection and an extended shutdown, though he didn’t need surgery.

If Cousins opens the season on the IL, he’ll be one of at least two Yankee relievers to start the year on the shelf. Jonathan Loáisiga is still rehabbing from the UCL procedure that he underwent last April. The Yankees knew he wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day but nevertheless brought him back on a $5MM free agent deal in December. Pitching coach Matt Blake said at the time that the team was targeting a return sometime in late April or early May.

It seems that timeline has been slightly pushed back. Loáisiga told reporters via an interpreter yesterday that he’s shooting for a return in late May or the beginning of June (via Joyce). That makes it likely he’ll land on the 60-day injured list once the Yankees need to create a 40-man roster spot. Injuries have kept Loáisiga to 20 appearances over the last two seasons. He’s a hard-throwing grounder specialist when he’s healthy and owns a 3.44 ERA across 219 2/3 career innings.

In one non-injury related camp note, Boone said this week that the Yankees will get Ben Rice catching reps during the spring (relayed by Hoch). A bat-first player, Rice played almost exclusively first base during his 50-game rookie season. He started 31 games behind the dish in the minors last season. Rice has nearly 1000 career minor league innings as a catcher, though most scouting reports question whether he can stick there.

Austin Wells will get the majority of the catching work. The Yanks have an open battle for the backup job after dealing Jose Trevino to Cincinnati. J.C. Escarra, who turns 30 in April and has yet to play in the majors, is the top depth option on the 40-man roster. The Yanks have Alex Jackson and former top prospect Ronaldo Hernández in camp as non-roster invitees.

Latest On Yankees, Marcus Stroman

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Feb. 14: Stroman reported to camp this morning. Both he and Boone have spoken with reporters about the right-hander’s arrival (all subsequent video links via SNY). Stroman, notably, when asked about the potential of pitching in the bullpen, decisively stated, “I’m a starter.” Asked whether that was a message to general manager Brian Cashman, Stroman said that was not the case but rather just a statement based on his track record and his offseason work to prepare himself to be available every fifth day.

Both Stroman and Boone pointed out the folly of assuming anything regarding the health of an entire rotation so early in camp, with Boone joking: “First of all, happy Valentine’s Day. It’s February 14. You’re getting way ahead of this. We’re building him up to be a starting pitcher. That’s so far out there. Obviously, we’ll address anything we have to when we get into certain situations, but right now the focus is on getting him ready.”

Boone added that he doesn’t envision the Yankees going to a six-man rotation but wouldn’t rule it out entirely. He noted that the Yankees have 10 to 11 pitchers who are preparing as starting pitchers this spring, adding: “Who knows how many of them you’re going to have to use right away?”

Feb. 13: The Yankees’ signing of Max Fried pushed Marcus Stroman out of the team’s rotation, effectively bumping him down to seventh starter. Even after sending Nestor Cortes to Milwaukee in the trade that netted closer Devin Williams, Stroman was sixth on the team’s depth chart. The Yankees have spent much of the offseason looking for a trade partner, but to no avail. Stroman is not only owed $18.5MM this coming season but would unlock an $18.5MM player option for the 2026 season if he pitches 140 innings in 2025.

The ongoing trade saga has created plenty of chatter about Stroman already this winter, but the opening of spring camps creates a bit more intrigue. Stroman hasn’t been with the team for the past two days of workouts. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the 33-year-old did take his physical for the club already. Stroman isn’t holding out, per Martino, but rather is taking a few extra days, which is permissible under the collective bargaining agreement.

Manager Aaron Boone downplayed the issue, stating that he and Stroman had a “very good” conversation and that the right-hander is in a good spot (video links via SNY). Stroman isn’t missing any mandatory dates; even though pitchers and catchers technically began reporting this week, the CBA stipulates that Feb. 22 is the mandatory report date. Workouts and practices thus far have technically been optional/voluntary. Boone was asked today if Stroman’s absence from camp was in any way disappointing.

“Obviously I want all of our players here, clearly,” said Boone. “That said, I’m comfortable with where he’s at physically and mentally. He’s a prideful player. This is a guy that’s had a great career. It’s a little bit of an awkward situation, obviously. So, of course I want him here. I’m trying to keep nudging him to get him here, but again, you also have to respect the fact that this is something that players are allowed to do. There’s a mandatory [report] date.”

It’s possible Yankees general manager Brian Cashman could find a trade partner in the coming days, but it’s likelier that Stroman will simply report to camp and begin progressing through his standard spring schedule. As camp progresses, injuries with the Yankees or with a potential trade partner could change the veteran Stroman’s current situation. Were it not for the ongoing trade efforts and a free agent signing that bumped him from the team’s rotation plans, the optics of him missing an extra couple days early in camp wouldn’t be as notable.

Stroman signed a two-year, $37MM deal in the Bronx last winter. He got out to an excellent start in pinstripes, pitching to a 2.60 ERA through his first dozen starts. He hit a cold spell in June, and while Stroman had a couple more pockets of strong outings, his overall ERA from June 1 onward checked in at 5.70. He finished the season with a 4.31 ERA in 154 2/3 frames. A disproportionate amount of the damage versus Stroman came at home and against left-handed batters. Stroman held righties to a .260/.327/.391 slash and logged a 3.09 earned run average on the road. Lefties torched him for a .296/.372/.474 slash, however, and he was rocked for a 5.31 ERA at Yankee Stadium, where he allowed 15 of his 19 home runs on the season.

Yankees Claim Brent Headrick, Designate Owen White For Assignment

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The Yankees announced they have claimed left-hander Brent Headrick off waivers from the Twins. Right-hander Owen White has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move. There wasn’t any previous indication that Headrick had been bumped off Minnesota’s roster, so their 40-man count drops to 39. Phil Miller of the Minnesota Star Tribune reported the claim prior to the official announcement.

It’s possible that the Twins made this move on account of the calendar. Teams around the league can start using the 60-day injured list to open roster spots once pitchers and catchers report to camp. That means it will be harder to pass a player through waivers unclaimed in the coming days, as all clubs open their respective camps. The Twins seemingly tried to open a roster spot just ahead of that unofficial deadline but didn’t succeed.

Headrick, 27, will now join a new club for the first time in his career. He was selected by the Twins in the ninth round of the 2019 draft and worked his way up to the majors. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November of 2022 to keep him out of that year’s Rule 5 draft.

His 2024 was largely wiped out by injury. After just two Triple-A appearances, he landed on the minor league injured list with a forearm strain. He didn’t start a rehab assignment until late August. He finished the year with 19 1/3 innings tossed on the farm and another three in the majors. Prior to that, he seemed like a viable rotation depth option. Over 2022 and 2023, he logged 183 1/3 innings in the minors, mostly as a starter. In that time, he had a 3.88 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate.

After his mostly lost season, the Twins tried to pass him though waivers but the Yankees are intrigued enough that they have grabbed him. It’s possible that they will want Headrick to focus more on relief work. That would be a reflection of his injury-marred 2024 but also the situation in the Bronx. The Yankees have a crowded rotation and are reportedly trying to trade Marcus Stroman. But their bullpen has just one lefty in it right now: 35-year-old groundballer Tim Hill.

Headrick does still have one option remaining, so the Yanks don’t need to guarantee him an active roster spot. But if he’s healthy and pitches well, he could come up and fill a clear need in the bullpen.

White, 25, was just claimed off waivers last week. Once a notable prospect in the Rangers’ system, he was designated for assignment by that club in December. He went to the Reds in a cash deal before then going to the Yankees via waivers.

The past two years have been rough for him. He has a 16.71 ERA in his tiny sample of seven big league innings. His 4.90 ERA in the minors over 2023 and 2024 was better but not great. That was in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but his 18.3% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate in that time weren’t great numbers.

Prior to that, White had been one of the top pitching prospects in the league. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he tossed 115 2/3 innings in the minors with a 3.42 ERA, 34.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate.

The Yankees will have to trade him or put him on waivers in the coming days. White still has an option year remaining and less than a year of service time. Given his past prospect pedigree and the aforementioned opening of the 60-day IL, some club will likely find a spot for him. DFA limbo can last a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

Yankees Sign Ronaldo Hernandez To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees signed catcher Ronaldo Hernández to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. He’ll be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Hernández, 27, was once a highly-regarded prospect. The Colombian-born backstop ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects entering the 2019 season. He slotted among the top 10 farmhands in the Tampa Bay system through 2020. The Rays dealt him to the Red Sox during the 2020-21 offseason in what turned out to be a lopsided trade that landed Jeffrey Springs. While Springs broke out as a productive starter with the Rays, Hernández stalled out in the upper levels of the Sox’s system.

The Sox called Hernández up for a pair of brief stays on the MLB roster in 2022. He didn’t make it into a game and was outrighted off the 40-man during the ensuing winter. Hernández remained in the Boston system until last offseason, when he joined the Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He hit 11 homers with a strong .311/.357/.507 showing over 63 games for their Triple-A club in Reno but didn’t get a major league call.

Austin Wells will get the bulk of the playing time behind the dish in the Bronx. New York traded Jose Trevino to Cincinnati for reliever Fernando Cruz and dealt depth catcher Carlos Narváez to the Red Sox in a minor trade in December. Aside from Wells, J.C. Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez are the only catchers on the 40-man roster.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez hasn’t played above Double-A and won’t be in consideration for the Opening Day roster. Escarra, who turns 30 in April, had a solid season in the upper minors last year. He probably has the leg up on the backup catcher job going into camp, but he has yet to play in the majors. Alex Jackson, acquired from Cincinnati in the Trevino trade, joins Hernández as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

Yankees, Tyler Matzek Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees are in agreement with free agent reliever Tyler Matzek on a minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. There’s presumably a non-roster invite to MLB camp for the PSI Sports Management client.

Matzek held a showcase for teams last month. He evidently showed enough for the Yanks to give him a look in Spring Training. Matzek is looking to rebound after injuries limited him to 11 big league appearances in 2024 — none of which came after May 4.

The veteran southpaw began the year in the Braves’ bullpen. Opponents tagged him for 11 runs over 10 innings. Atlanta placed him on the injured list with elbow inflammation during the first week of May. Matzek remained on the shelf for more than three months. Atlanta dealt him to the Giants as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline acquisition.

San Francisco released Matzek rather than plug him into the MLB bullpen when he was healthy. Atlanta circled back to re-sign the 34-year-old to a minor league deal. He pitched four times with Triple-A Gwinnett and didn’t earn a call up. He qualified for free agency at season’s end.

Elbow issues have derailed Matzek in consecutive seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery during Atlanta’s postseason run in 2022. That cost him the entire ’23 campaign. He’d had a strong three-year run for the Braves between 2020-22. Matzek combined for a 2.92 earned run average while striking out more than 27% of batters faced in 135 2/3 innings. His fastball had sat in the 94-96 MPH range during that time. The velocity ticked down ever so slightly in his return from surgery; he averaged 93.6 MPH on the heater last year.

There should be a decent opportunity for Matzek to break camp if he impresses in Spring Training. New York only has one lefty reliever on their 40-man roster: the recently re-signed Tim Hill. Aside from Matzek, they’re bringing two southpaws to camp as non-roster invitees. Brandon Leibrandt has seven MLB appearances, while Jayvien Sandridge has yet to reach the majors.

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