The Yankees have signed right-handed pitcher Danny Salazar to a minor league deal, per Mike Rodriguez of Univision.
Salazar, 32, was signed as an international free agent by Cleveland back in 2006. He climbed up the ranks of the minors and made his MLB debut in 2013. He had a tremendous four-year run from his debut through 2016, making 85 starts and throwing 484 1/3 innings. His ERA was 3.72 in that time, along with a 26.7% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 41.7% ground ball rate. He made the American League All-Star team in the last year of that stretch.
Unfortunately, cracks started to form in 2017, as Salazar struggled out of the gate and was demoted to the bullpen, though he would eventually reclaim his spot in the rotation. He finished the year with a 4.28 ERA over 103 innings, while missing time with shoulder issues. From there, bad went to worse as Salazar was diagnosed with right shoulder rotator cuff inflammation just as 2018 Spring Training was about to begin. After many failed attempts to heal his ailing shoulder, he eventually underwent exploratory surgery in June, which prevented him from taking the mound at all that year.
He was able to return to a big league mound in August of 2019, though he was trying to pitch through a groin issue and had severely diminished velocity compared to his previous form. He made a single four-inning start before being placed on the injured list a few days later and hasn’t pitched in a big league game since. He was outrighted at the end of the season.
At this point, it would be an incredible comeback story if Salazar is able to return to form and get back to the big leagues. Other than that lone injury-plagued outing in 2019, it’s been five years since he was a meaningful part of a big league staff. For the Yankees, there’s no risk in giving him a minor league deal and seeing if he can recapture some his previous form.
Interesting. With their Gas Station in Florida, Matt Blake in the majors, & their recent, early success, who knows? Maybe they see something they feel they can fix.
Go Yankees!
The Yankees build bullpens as well as any team in the game. There’s no risk as it’s a minor league deal, but they wouldn’t bother unless they see something they believe they can fix.
…and, btw, I shouldn’t assume they’re converting him to relieving, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Clipp,
Like the article says no harm in giving him a shot. You never know. Still waiting for the return of Clarke Schmidt. I guess there’s a minimum number of days he has to stay in the minors before he can be recalled.
Look’s like another beard going bye-bye. Can he be effective without it? Remains to be seen. I’m pulling for the kid. He definitely still has the arm strength.
You guys see Stanton’s absolute rockets? They were insane! That guy’s swings are so level & even on pitches on the outside part of the plate, he simply hits a line drive that just doesn’t stop until it hits the seats. What an albatross…. Lol.
Amazing, truly amazing. When he andJudge are right, it’s so tough on opposing pitchers.
Hicks is well on his way to 30/30 (eye roll)
Add former MVP Donaldson to that mix and pitchers probably want to give up already after watching batting practice.
@Clip He’s barreling all the balls now whenever he makes contact. Even that base hit was impressive last night how hard he it. All so effortless when he’s going well. Another dinger tonight.
Yeah, it’s truly insane. That guy just has immense power & leverage. He’s clipping 115-118mph on everything his bat touches it seems.
What gets me are the arms-only swings. The ones where he doesn’t really get his lower half into the swing and simply just stays inside the baseball, shoots a line drive the opposite way, and it still goes 400FT. It’s… just incredible.
The Mayor of Goodyear, Arizona! Dude was electric for the Indians years ago, and they threw so much money his way (over $9 million) and he just didn’t have it for 2018/2019.
Correct, he physically rehabbed and when back to 100% his mental situation wasn’t up to snuff which is what did him in.
They have a hot tub time machine?
I remember when indian fans were so certain that this guy was the next Cy young.
He definitely had the talent. He averaged about 96 on his fastball, had a good breaking ball, and good control. Ingredients were all there, and in what turned out to be his only 30 start season he put up 3.0 WAR as a 25 year old. Definitely could see why he was worth dreaming on.
There were a lot of speculators in the old minor league boards that Salazar was a bit of a headcase when he was trying to rehab his arm in 2018/19. I’m glad to see him back- hope he has it all straightened out
Yeah. Headcase is one way to put it. I think the rumor going around at the time was he never healed was because he sat and did nothing as far as rehab went and spent all his 5 million a year on tinder dates. Dead serious.
I always thought that Salazar’s disappearance was strange.. you’d think back when he was released that there would be plenty of teams lining up to give him a minors deal but he just disappeared. Glad he is returning to baseball and I hope he can make it back to the majors.
Yeah he kind of fell off the face of the Earth it seemed.
Caesar Salazar.
Good for him for not giving up on his career. He’s only 32 and if Daniel Bard can come back at age 35 after retiring in 2017 then maybe Danny can beat the odds too (despite different circumstances).
I have read and listened to people say that he doesn’t have the kind of work ethic you like to see in a teammate. I thought he would just take the money and hang it up, very surprised he is taking another shot. Good luck to Danny!
Even if he can’t get back the majors, or even good health, he can still be a great mentor to the young guys
Why? Just assuming he’d be a great mentor because he’s a few years older isn’t always right. That only works if you’re a good teammate and have your head screwed on straight. This guy wasn’t a cancer per se, but he was a mess at the end of his career. The frugal Tribe stood by him and paid him way too much money hoping he’d get back on track but it never happened. When he got back to 100% his mental game took a hit, his fastball dropped down into the upper 80s.
Exactly
Numerous people have posted that he was a head case, didn’t make the effort to rehab, was lazy and wasted his money.
IF true, what part of that makes him a good mentor?
Dave Roberts was thinking of making him the dodgers high leverage arm, back to Hudson.
A reach but who knows? Cashman has pulled rabbits out of his hat in the past
Got to meet him in Anaheim, through the efforts of an usher with a nephew in the Tribe system.
Very nice kid, took time for pictures and to autograph a baseball for me. Shame things went south for him. He had so much talent. Hope his comeback is a success.
“Damn you, Salazar….damn you!”
(Bonus points for whomever can guess the movie this quote is from).
Hint: Cheesy movie with former Friends’ cast member
I had to look it up. No wonder I didn’t know, I would never waste my time watching that, after having watched the original series.
I was wondering what happened to him. Hope he makes it back.
There’s a name i feel like we haven’t heard in a long time
Low risk high reward especially with Green continues to struggle.
Most likely low reward but I guess anything is possible.
Green is Green and he’ll level out with a low-3 ERA. He was lights out for the first half last year and people panicked when he started struggling. He was falling back to earth. Not worried about Green.