The Yankees recently signed a number of players to minor league contracts, as reported by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. Among those that haven’t previously been covered at MLBTR: left-handers Tanner Tully and Nick Ramirez, righty Ryan Weber and infielder Jamie Westbrook.
Tully had spent his entire career in the Cleveland system. A 26th round pick in 2016, he worked his way to the majors for the first time this year. Tully appeared out of Terry Francona’s bullpen three times, allowing four runs in six innings. He spent the bulk of the season at Triple-A Columbus, where he started 24 of 28 outings. Through 122 innings, the Ohio State product put up a 4.72 ERA with a modest 18.5% strikeout percentage but an excellent 4.9% walk rate.
The 28-year-old doesn’t throw hard, averaging just under 91 MPH on his fastball during his MLB time. He’s a quality strike-thrower who has gotten average or better grounder rates in the minors of late. He’ll presumably open the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and serve as rotation or long relief depth.
That’s a role with which Weber is also familiar. He spent the 2022 campaign in the Yankees organization, shuttling on and off their roster whenever the club needed to cover some innings. The 32-year-old made five appearances, all in relief. He allowed just one run across 10 2/3 innings with a trio of strikeouts and a walk. That marked his eighth consecutive year logging some big league action, and he has a 5.02 ERA across 177 2/3 career frames.
Like Tully, Weber is a soft-tossing control specialist. He consistently racks up grounders on over half the batted balls he allows, including a robust 53.5% rate in 39 2/3 frames for Scranton this past season. Weber walked just 3% of opponents with the RailRiders, albeit with a 16.5% strikeout rate.
Ramirez, 33, adds some left-handed relief depth to the mix. He appeared in the big leagues in each season between 2019-21, suiting up with the Tigers and Padres. Between the two clubs, he posted a 4.55 ERA with a 20.4% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk percentage across 110 2/3 innings. Ramirez spent the entire 2022 campaign working out of the bullpen with the Mariners highest affiliate in Tacoma. He had a nice season, working to a 2.93 ERA with a 23.7% strikeout percentage and 46% ground-ball rate through 55 1/3 frames. That wasn’t enough to crack an excellent Seattle bullpen, but he’ll try to work his way back to the majors in the Bronx.
Westbrook has yet to play in the big leagues. The 27-year-old has played almost a decade in the minors, spending parts of four seasons at Triple-A. He looked like to be under consideration for an MLB call when the Tigers acquired him from the Brewers in an April trade. That proved not to be, as the former fifth-round draftee spent the year at Triple-A Toledo. Westbrook hit .248/.349/.377 across 499 plate appearances, showing solid plate discipline without much power. He’s primarily a second baseman but has experience in the corner outfield; he’ll add some defensive flexibility to the upper levels of the system.
10centBeerNight
Depth bruh
kiddhoff
Wow!
Yankee Clipper
The return of Weber, part XXXIV, the saga continues….
Ronk325
I always look forward to his yearly spot start around late July/early August
Dr2022
What’s the matter clip. Aren’t you happy with Cashmans dumpster diving.
YankeesBleacherCreature
First minor leaguer with a retired number and belongs in Monument Park.
fre5hwind
Tanner Tully still has potential.
Michael Chaney
I say this as a Guardians fan, but Tully probably has a pretty low ceiling. He also probably has a pretty high floor. He can be an up and down guy to soak up some innings, either in long relief or an occasional spot start.
So as long as you aren’t expecting all sorts of potential and upside, he can be a pretty useful depth guy. Maybe Matt Blake saw something with him when he used to work in Cleveland.
Yankee Clipper
Sounds like a cool dive bar….
[Irish accent] Welcome to Tanner Tully’s, what’ll we have ya for?
sascoach2003
Yeah, but what about Rob Brantly? SWB has to have its player-coach and I think he only needs another year to get his 10 year vestment…
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
Weber, 6 teams in 8 years. Talk about your typical hot potato.
justkidding
just another example of how much better Brian Cashman is than your favorite teams GM/VP
Salvi
For signing Ryan Weber? Better at avoiding the World Series maybe.
Rsox
Name checks out
WideWorldofSports
yankees treat weber like abusive bf
slider32
Cashman and company trying to catch lightning in a bottle again! Looking for another Riddings or Luetge.
Dr2022
Hahaha. They already had them, and let them go.
Poster formerly known as . . .
Quit dicking around, Cashman. The meter’s running.
Yankee Clipper
*Ring*
Hal: Hello?
Cashman: Hey Hal, it’s me C-Daddy….. {eerily quiet}….. Anywho, got to thinking about how to really liven up this roster, send a bolt of lightening through it, and finally close the gap on those Astros.
Hal: Today please, Brian….
Cashman: Well big bro, you see we signed the top FA in the 2022 class, we signed Rodon, BUT, we need to save money and I found a way to save and improve the team – Probability & hope, it’s a plan of action, Halberto.
Hal: ?
Cashman: I figure we can take the issues we had 3B & LF, and….. get this (excited chuckle)….. try it again! The law of probability with a healthy splash of hope has got to work sooner or later.
{Crickets…}
Cashman: Oh, and Hal, please be careful about what you say regarding Santa in front of Boone……. He doesn’t know yet. He asked for more camaraderie for Christmas….
Poster formerly known as . . .
The viable left fielders are flying off the shelves, and Brian is acquiring reclamation-project relief pitchers. With each passing day and each player going to another team, the prospect of a left field of Cabrera and Hicks seems more likely. And if that’s the case, it had better be in that order: Cabrera starting and Hicks eating sunflower seeds on the bench.
I’ll be honest: I’m not sold on Bryan Reynolds, and Cherington is said to be asking the moon and stars in return, as usual, and it’s not just the dubious word of Jon Heyman:
“The Dodgers didn’t want to trade the farm for Juan Soto at the Trade Deadline. Reynolds is a great player, but he’s not Soto. So unless the Pirates significantly lower their asking price, I don’t see how a trade for Reynolds will come into play.”
That’s from a Dodgers beat writer, and I have no doubt that it’s accurate, because this is what Cherington does. It must be annoying as hell trying to negotiate with that guy. If I were Cashman, I wouldn’t bother.
If Kepler comes our way, I’ll be satisfied. If not, Cabrera put up a 109 OPS+ in his 44 games, and maybe he could maintain or exceed that, given the chance. I’m more concerned about another year of Donaldson.
Yankee Clipper
I agree with you on both accounts. I would love to get Reynolds, but it’s a moot point because Pitt is looking for top-prospect pitching. I don’t see it as a fit, honestly. The only viable pitcher we would have even close to what they’re looking for is Nestor Cortez, and then we undermine our own rotation again. Stupid.
I think there are a variety of LF choices to go with, I just don’t want to be stagnant. Cohen has the right approach – he sees a weakness and aggressively attacks it with the best possible option.
So, why couldn’t the Yankees consider Mets’ Eduardo Escobar for 3B? Kepler gives me eerie Gallo vibes, but that doesn’t mean he would turn out the same, obviously. I think it’s just a matter of Cashman doing {something} to keep improving on our weaknesses. We know there are no guarantees. I don’t think I can watch another Donaldson bat flip that results in a warning track fly ball. That irritates me as much as what Hicks did.
whyhayzee
It took a rotation pitcher to get Bader and Reynolds is every bit as good. So it makes sense. Pittsburgh’s not giving him away, they want market price. And the Yankees have set that price with St. Louis. At least that’s my simplistic take on things.
braves95 2
Ryan Weber 2023:
April: AAA
May: random spot start in a doubleheader. Gives up 1 run in 7 innings
/ DFA’d
/ elects free agency
/ re-signs Yankees minors deal 24 hours later
June/July: AAA
August: random spot start. Gets shelled
/ DFA’d
/ Orioles make claim
/ Cashman, realizing he may lose his favorite toy, trades Aaron Judge for Ryan Weber
Rsox
Sounds a lot like Jerad Eickhoff’s transaction line with the Mets in 2021
MLB-1971
Yankee MVP Ryan Weber.
EasternLeagueVeteran
Scranton is loaded. Westbrook will be the keystone partner with Volpe. Look out Binghamton, Lehigh Valley and Buffalo.
therattler 2
Cats say they have Ryan Weber lives.