The Yankees have agreed to a deal with right-hander Tyler Duffey, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). A source tells MLBTR that it’s a minor league contract for Duffey, so he won’t go directly onto the 40-man roster. So long as it’s finalized/official prior to midnight, he’d be eligible for their postseason roster. Duffey, a client of the Ballengee Group, opted out of a minor league deal with the Rangers earlier this week.
It’s been a tough season for Duffey, who was released by the Twins — the only organization he’d known to that point in his career — earlier this summer. Once a standout setup man in Minnesota, where he pitched to a 2.31 ERA with a 34.2% strikeout rate against just a 6.1% walk rate in 81 2/3 innings from 2019-20, Duffey saw his results take a step back in 2021 before they completely cratered in 2022.
Duffey, 31, still notched a tidy 3.18 ERA in ’21 but did so with diminished velocity and strikeout/walk rates that aggressively trended in the wrong direction (24% and 11%, respectively). Things unraveled entirely this season, as Duffey was hammered for a 4.91 ERA and allowed an average of 1.64 homers per nine innings pitched, losing a high-leverage spot with the Twins and primarily being relegated to lower-leverage work prior to being cut loose. Duffey did toss five shutout frames with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate during his brief stop with Texas, albeit with an unsightly 5-to-4 K/BB ratio.
This year’s 92.3 mph average fastball velocity is Duffey’s lowest since he became a full-time reliever, and his 21.1% strikeout rate is his lowest mark since 2018. To Duffey’s credit, both his 11.1% swinging-strike rate and 32.4% opponents’ chase rate on pitches off the plate are both right in line with the 2022 league averages. He’s struggled, however, to get ahead in counts and has paid the price for it; at his peak, Duffey threw a first-pitch strike to just shy of 68% of his opponents. He’s done so at just a 60% clip in 2022 — the worst full-season mark of his career. Working behind in the count more than ever before while pitching with a fastball that’s down nearly two miles per hour from its 2019 peak hasn’t been a recipe for success.
That said, there’s little harm in taking a low-cost look at Duffey just before rosters expand. The former fifth-round pick isn’t far removed from being a very solid late-inning piece for the Twins, and he’ll only cost the Yankees the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the Major League roster. That amount would be subtracted from the $793K still owed to him by Minnesota, but the Twins will remain on the hook for the vast majority of what’s yet to be paid out on this season’s $3.8MM salary for Duffey, who’ll be a free agent at season’s end.
Duffey is the third right-hander to join the Yankees organization on a minor league pact in the past 24 hours. Both Chi Chi Gonzalez and Jacob Barnes agreed to minor league contracts with the Yanks just last night. Because they signed prior to Sept. 1, any of that trio would be postseason-eligible, although they’d technically need league approval to be added to the roster as an injury replacement if they’re not on the 40-man roster before midnight tonight.
Yankees in a race to add relief arms before the clock strikes September 1!
Their AAA team will be stacked. None of them are someone you want to see pitching in the playoffs at the major league level.
Yes, they’re all likely AAA depth to replace other arms that get cycled up and down, but the team will want to ensure they’re available if required. Duffey has had a track record of success, but his K rate dove after 2020, which is not a good sign. Warm bodies.
Yes. How about some bats, we could sure use anybody who could get bat on ball once in a while
Looks like they’re picking up every single free agent pitcher
Damn…..Yankees looking for anything with an arm & a pulse. Wonder if they called Petite & Clemens
Not a good fit for the yanks. Better depth options available.
Like who? They can only choose from those available.
It must be pretty miserable being a Yankee farmhand pitcher. A very clear message is being sent to them.
That said, they’re being smart piling up pitchers to throw junk innings to try and save their quality arms for the postseason. But that 7 game lead can vanish before you can say, “The Yankees just signed _____________.”. At some point, they will continue to burn their pitchers at both ends (old habits die hard), because they will be in a panic if the lead gets down to 5 games. And if somebody catches them, Boonedoggle will spontaneously combust.
This is all going to be highly entertaining. Especially the inevitable puff of smoke at the end.
Please let us know Twinkie fans. Would really appreciate a scouting report on this guy, if it’s possible and thank you!
His recent track record in big game situations is shaky at best. As a Twins fan I was not an advocate to put him in during high pressure moments, so I’m not convinced he’ll do well in the fish bowl known as Yankee Stadium.
Wow that doesn’t sound good, but thanks for letting us know, much appreciated.
stubborn. thinks his curveball still works. hangs 3 out of every 4 of them. fastball isn’t fast. bad temperature- you know, cuz he isn’t good. if he makes it to yankee stadium, he’ll do well if you’re up by 10, or down by 10. any closer, and he gets rattled.
Yeah definitely sounds like Duffy won’t get in any big pressured games for us.
Hey I always wanted to pitch for them, think they could use a
Lefty?
All just DFA depth. Bader,Britton,Castro,Severino and longshot Ridings could all be activated from the 60 before the end of the season. No room to add any more prospects to the 40 w/o running into more DFA issues.
would be fun if ridings came out of nowhere to become a post-season weapon
Hold on, We could get Castillo and Hader to help us through the stretch and into the postseason, right?! – OOOH, we struck out there – Cash, you #$&%’d up…….
Castillo agree on, but Hader is not the Hader from years before.
Put it in to the blander and make a good garbage juice
Duffey,May, Rogers and a sprinkle of a vet closer was such a nice pen for a few years
Never heard of him
A 4.91 ERA? This is surprising. Based on the earlier news of Gonzalez and Barnes, I thought the object was to corner the market on pitchers with ERA’s over 6.00.
‘ROME (AP) — The New York Yankees have purchased a minority stake in Italian soccer champion AC Milan, which announced the closing of its latest ownership change Wednesday.
‘RedBird Capital Partners completed the deal to purchase a controlling interest in the seven-time European champion for 1.2 billion euros ($1.2 billion). . . .
‘Yankees Global Enterprises, the baseball team’s parent company led by the Steinbrenner family, will take a stake of about 10%, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity before the final deal had been announced. . . .
‘The Yankees, 27-time World Series champions, are signing a separate marketing agreement with Milan, a 19-time Italian champion, that will include broadcasting replays of games on the YES Network, as Manchester City does. There also will be cross-merchandising between the pinstripes and the Rossoneri.’
chron.com/sports/article/AC-Milan-announces-owners…
If my math’s correct, the Yankee franchise is investing roughly $120M in this soccer team, in addition to their 20% stake in NYCFC.
And Hal is obsessed with the MLB luxury tax.
One makes money, the other costs money. Not rocket science.
Investing in a soccer team makes money, but investing in a baseball player whose presence on the team leads to more wins — that doesn’t make money? Is that your point?
Apparently no one told George, who turned an $8.5M investment into a multibillion-dollar property by spending on top-tier players. He didn’t preside over a mid-to-late-90’s dynasty by nickel-and-diming the roster.
Pink, you are correct. Hal is disproportionately concerned about the tax, and its relatively small penalty if the Threshold is exceeded in the slightest. Year after year, this hurts the Yankees chances of even getting to the World Series.
I believe Hal is concerned about the tax because of this… He focuses so hard on capping spending because, like so many owners in other sports with hard caps, baseball owners want to spread their wings and invest all that excess money in other ventures to compound the exponential formula. Hal’s only concerned with capping the budget so he can buy more to make more in a variety of investments.
This is why I have no sympathy for the hard cap or even the soft cap – pay it or don’t pay it, but to demand a cap is not for equity, parity or anything more than to use all that excess to make even more. That’s not meant to disparage monetary gain either. Good on them for wanting to invest, but don’t manipulate the rules under false pretenses to do it.
We constantly hear how team ownership is a losing financial proposition. Well, Moreno bought the Angels for about $189M in 2002. He is going to sell them for billions, with a “B.”
Whatever his reasons, obsessing over the luxury tax is just bad business. It’s a fraction of the amount by which the team exceeds the threshold. In the context of what the Yankees spend on the roster, that’s a negligible amount; and to jeopardize the chances of winning a World Series over that amount of money is foolish, because winning a championship would pay for the tax and then some.
I do wonder if he actually realizes that though. It’s seems objectively obvious to most folks, but he seems to believe his assertion that the CBT overage is some financial back-breaker for Yankees Global.
Or perhaps he’s just truly so naive that he really believes Cashman should be able to win one by spending under a certain amount because other teams have?
Clip, I couldn’t agree with you more. They plead poverty, yet they keep investing multiple millions in another interests. And the prices for fans at Yankee Stadium continues to rise, and every game you watch you have to pay for ,nothing is gratis anymore or on the house, maybe show some appreciation to the fans, who got you there.
And Steinbrenner, supposedly is a good businessman, he did go to the best schools with Georges money after all. I’m sure he understands that if you invest more in the Yankees he will make more, but he must’ve done the math and figured it would not yield as Good a return as he would like ,and he’s better off putting the money elsewhere.
Meanwhile Yankee fans , Even old timers like me,start to wonder why they continue to be loyal to this franchise,while they continue
to just spit in our face.
Oh and also, now that The Wilpons have left town,there’s a perfectly good franchise across town, it seems to have a owner that is a fan and actually cares, and is willing to invest some money into the team to actually improve it, and not just give lip service to it like the Steinbrenner’s do year after year. In fact the Mets got all the players that I wanted this off-season and the manager as well.
And it’s getting tiring, and now rings hollow, every year when Steinbrenner and his general manager express great outrage over yet another loss in the postseason, and vow to do something about it, yet when the time comes to do something we find out that its merely lipservice and they make halfassed efforts like bringing in a poor shortstop who is really a third baseman because he’s cheap or bringing it over the hill Donaldson so they could get said short stop ,and at the same time unload Sanchez and his contract to save money ,etc. etc. etc. We could have had Verlander a difference maker, or correa, or Lindor but instead we got the replacement level players. This will not change as long as Steinbrenner is in charge unfortunately I’m starting to realize. The Mets are becoming a more and more viable option as time goes on
Yeah, a lot of really good points, DR. Which all makes Cashman’s moves at the deadline more confounding… by keeping arms like Sears & Waldi, with Monty, they have the potential to save on rotation or depth arms now and in the future. But trading them for Montas and then trading Monty, when SP arms are arguable the most valuable agency asset, seems incongruent with their offseason plans to save.
It’s all an indication to me that Cashman’s moves are singular – there’s no larger, cohesive plan until it’s too late, ie: trade deadline. They seems to lack strategic planning for the future. It’s the same with Volpe/Peraza. They have a plan, but is it sound? We could’ve had T Turner who would be a show-stopper in the Yankees lineup, but instead, we are just…….waiting? And that’s not to mention the fact that when they do come up, are they going to succeed? This could all be for nothing.
Now, with that said, the Yankees would have at least some money if they wouldn’t spend it on poor contracts like Hicks, wasted time/money on Sanchez, Donaldson, Cole’s overpay, Stanton’s contract, Chapman, etc.
I do believe you are correct clip. By the way, do you know what happened to ducky ,you seem to know him. Have not seen him post on this site for quite a while ,and did enjoy his dedication to the Yankees and his sound points about it
Hey clip, the other point is just Cashman loves shopping at the trade deadline, even though as you rightly pointed out it may be too late. I believe he’s like a shopper who is thrilled to wait to be shopping at the stores half price rack.
And yes I am definitely leery of pinning all our hopes on the arrival of Volpe ,or some other overhyped prospect who may turn out to be nothing as most of them do, despite the high hopes for them. Meanwhile this so-called championship window dwindles, judge could very well be gone after this year after his historic season, and likely Steinbrenners unwillingness to pay him what he will be asking, and Stanton and DJ, are not getting any younger either ,and are already frail. And who else does this team have as far as the hitters go who’s worth much, Torres ends up being a nothing burger, Donaldson is washed up, Rizzo is getting older and won’t be around much longer etc.
I miss him on here, but I haven’t seen/heard from him either. He’s been a ghost. I really just hope he’s doing well and it’s not due to some life-altering event that he’s absent… unless, of course, it’s a positive life-altering event –
Yes me too Clipper.
Why don’t they sign Ken Giles, he’s better than any of these guys!
How hypocritical though pink, every year Hal pleads poverty, but he has the substantial amount of money to invest in the Italian soccer team.
Exactly.
I couldn’t agree with you more pink. I’m a long time Yankees fan always have been thought I always would be, but I suspect it as long as Steinbrenner owns this teamthis nonsense will continue because he really does not care about the team only is a source of money. And he’s perfectly happy to invest his profits from the team elsewhere on other interest as you have astutely noted. And not back into the team itself. I guess that’s not profitable enough for him.
The Mets seem to run things better now, And are willing to put profits back into the product, and have an owner who cares. From what I’ve seen ,people I’ve talk to the mets becoming a viable option for fans who are tired of this nonsense . is it this off-season the Mets got all the players that I wanted the Yankees to get and even the manager I wanted, but that would’ve required some investing some money , not just looking for deals, and what could be found under a rock somewhere ,so the Yankees did not do those deals.
What really chaps me is how the money-grubbing owners won’t put the YES broadcasts on any streaming service except for occasional games on ESPN, Amazon and Peacock. Most of the YES games are only available to cable subscribers, so those of us who cut the cable are SOL. No way am I going to go back to paying thousands a year for cable with its ever-escalating prices.
The current crop of Yankee suits give the impression that they disdain the riff-raff that make up most of the fan base.
blogs.fangraphs.com/on-baseball-and-elitism-and-th…
Perfectly stated pink, I have nothing to add about that.
Not to mention the fact that he recently used the Yankee Stadium costs as the reason he couldn’t afford to go over the CBT. This is just a giant proverbial slap in the face to Yankees fans (and the team, honestly).
Not to mention, after Aaron Judge & co see this, do you really think there’s going to be any soft spot in his heart for the Yankees (if there was at all)? He’s going to triple down on his earning potential.
scranton is running out of roster spots for position players. duffey may have to play
left field in between appearances
The days of my defending IKF are over. They can’t bring Peraza up soon enough.
I agree. The guy who is brought in the defense and not hitting, is incompetent at both.
He was an adequate placeholder for a while, but it’s time to bring up the guy whose place he was supposedly holding, either Peraza or Volpe.
And it’s not just IKF who’s sucking. Both Torres and LeMahieu were pathetic in the month of August, a .464 and .550 OPS respectively. Judge can’t carry an entire team by himself, although he’s trying.
The flaws in Cashman’s roster are showing up bigger as the team collapses. The contract to 32-year-old LeMahieu was stupid, as was the contract to Hicks. Donaldson can still field, but that’s not enough — another stupid contract. Meanwhile, Cashman’s fondness for aging players suggests to me that he’s afraid to gamble on his own prospects; but the “sure thing” turns out not to be that when the old guys show their age in baseball years.
They just did pink. I just hope they use him. And not use him as an understudy to the incomparable I KF
That’s good news. I hope it’s not Cashman’s usual short leash and send him back down if he doesn’t immediately mash.
Hey Pink,
Did you hear Boone’s latest idiotic comments. He said that I KF is continuing to be the shortstop, and Peraza will ride the bench. why bring the kid up if you’re not going to use him, it makes absolutely no sense at all but that’s the Yankee way I guess. It’s not good for the kid, and it’s not good for the team.
I would be concerned except for the fact that Boone usually does not get the memo on these things, and he’s usually wrong ,so once again he probably does not know what he’s talking about and he’s merely trying to asuave ikfs tender feelings. This probably means that Peraza will be playing every day in Boone speak. But I guess we will see
I wouldn’t ascribe that decision to Boone. Cashman decides who’s getting called up, and I would guess he also dictates playing time. It’s probably Cashman’s tender feelings that are under consideration. He made a bad trade that stuck the franchise with Donaldson’s contract and an injured catcher. If IKF doesn’t salvage some value from that trade, it’s a total bust. Which, realistically, it is — but does Cashman want to admit that?
Boone to Meredith in the postgame when asked about the two errors preceding Cole’s cookie to Ohtani: “I don’t think it had an effect.”
What?
Yeah… had no effect…..
Listen, I took the position that Boone may have turned it around in the first half and learned how to manage. I admitted, perhaps I was wrong about him. But, his defending IKF’s error by citing IKF as one of the best SS in the league, and then statements similar to this, reflect that Boone is simply incapable of handling a team that isn’t already winning. He crumbles.
Boone cannot seem to get out of buddy-mode, whether it’s because he’s afraid of being unfriended or that he has a phobia of difficult conversations with the guys on the team. Nevertheless, spinning what’s happening to the Yankees fanbase is probably the worst decision he can make. It is the reason he will ultimately fail, imo. It’s also why he can’t bench players when he needs to; it’s why he can’t pull pitchers when he needs to; it’s why the Yankees don’t have the spark when they need to.
Boone may say what the Yankees brass wants him to. He may do what Cashman wants him to do. But, their detachment with what fans expect, and how to achieve that, is going to result in an epic backlash from their own fans. What they don’t seem to realize (or care about) is that it will adversely affect potential future generations of fans, who will choose LAD, or Mets, or anyone else that’s actually winning in this epoch.
There ought to be a place somewhere between Billy Martin’s near-fistfight with Reggie Jackson and an absolute refusal to criticize players. Girardi probably lost his job primarily because Hal didn’t want to give him a raise, but the explanation the front office gave was some vague gibberish about communicating with the players. I found this old article about Joe’s firing that gave a different take on his relationship with the players:
sports.yahoo.com/joe-girardi-reportedly-wasnt-toug…
I don’t know if Harper’s reporting is credible, but it’s definitely different.
Well said clipper. Did you see that the Yankees finally brought up Peraza, I hope they use him. It’s about time. I hope he brought his life raft with him though, he’s a lighting on the decks of the titanic
I agree with your points clip, But I never thought that Boone showed any sign of changing his foolhardy ways unfortunately or learned how to manage. I wish I was wrong.
And it seems that the worst the team plays the more egregious his blunders are.
There are those who say a manager doesn’t make much of a difference, it is the players that play. That is true to some extent, but look at the difference tween what Boone gets out of his players and cash on Tampa gets out of his players, with their microscopic budget.
He probably just meant they would’ve found a way to lose anyway, which is right about that.
Hey pink, he probably meant they would’ve lost anyway, or found a way too, which is accurate.
The Yankees have signed Tommy Trombone for their bullpen. And yet, the slide continues. Wah Wah Wah.
We could bring back Steve sax too To join the band.
Yankees have had some luck this year when signing guys from the rangers AAA team