The Yankees are in agreement with outfielder Rafael Ortega on a minor league contract, as first reported by Complete Baseball News (Twitter link). The veteran will presumably be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Ortega, 31, heads to the Bronx after two years as a Cub. Signed to a minor league contract over the 2020-21 offseason, he cracked the big league roster in late May of 2021. Ortega would go to appear in 103 games for Chicago that year, hitting .291/.360/.463. An elevated .349 batting average on balls in play propped up those impressive results, though it was still a strong enough showing for Ortega to hold his roster spot through the offseason.
While the lefty-hitting Ortega predictably couldn’t quite maintain his 2021 production, he had another solid year. He got into a career-high 118 games last season, picking up 371 trips to the dish. Ortega hit .241/.331/.358, production just a hair worse than league average. He didn’t make much of an impact from a power perspective, hitting only seven home runs with a slightly below-average 33.5% hard contact rate. Yet he earned some extended run at the top of the Chicago lineup thanks to quality strikeout and walk marks. He drew free passes at a very strong 11.9% clip against a modest 19.9% strikeout rate, resulting in an on-base percentage nearly 20 points higher than league average even as his BABIP took the expected step back.
Despite his decent two-year run, Ortega didn’t hold his spot on the Chicago roster this time around. The Cubs non-tendered him rather than retain him on an arbitration salary projected at $1.7MM. Without finding a big league deal in free agency, he’ll now have to work his way back onto an MLB roster in order to appear at the highest level for a seventh season.
Ortega has ample experience at all three outfield positions. Public metrics have pegged him as a slightly below-average center fielder but given him solid marks in the corners. The Yankees have a question in left field, where Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Cabrera seem like the current favorites for playing time. Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader are locked into the other two outfield spots if healthy, though Ortega profiles as a quality depth option in the event Bader or one of the other outfielders misses time to injury.
yanks searching for that LF on a minor league contract?
Yeah great now I wanna eat tacos
There’s never a bad time to eat tacos.
Scuba diving?
It’s a good pickup. They should keep looking for a better option, BUT he actually could be a solid one year solution if nothing better comes a long. 108 OPS+ over the past two seasons. A lefty who hits righties. A very good fielder for LF who can legit back up Bader in CF. He pulls the ball in the air to RF and was punished at Wrigley due to the wind patterns, but will be rewarded at Yankee Stadium. He’ll then allow Cabrera to take over the rotating infielder/OFer role served last year by Marwin Gonzalez, getting two additional lefty bats into the lineup. Ortega needs a platoon partner, but Cabrera and Hicks can cover that.
Sabean makes his mark!
He plays hard every day. Saw him make some great catches for my cubs. Wish him the best.
Yankees could do a lot worse, than Rafael Ortega.
Nice depth move.
How many do we need. Would be nice to get a real major leaguer though.
As many as possible. I’ll even drive for free the Spring Training leftfielder shuttle bus in Tampa.
I’m getting on a bus. Emailed Cashman and got an invite. Truth be told, it seemed an awful lot like an auto reply, especially since it had the wrong name in the response; but I don’t care. I have all the advantages in the world:
I’m a 30+-hmmmmm-year-old former baseball player, who has been injured, and I even used to pitch in high school. And, my position for several years was CF, but I may be better suited for a corner now.
I know Cashman is salivating……. Root for me guys, Monument Park has my space open…
Dear PTNBL,
Your physical exam will be conducted by Dr. Whyhayzee from 3:00pm.until 3:15pm and your contract offer will be presented at 3:20pm. Please bring a blue ballpoint pen.
I didn’t know this clipper, but it seems like you’ve got what it takes. Cashman loves those reclamation projects. Especially if it costs league minimum.
With this team it’s likely not to be a depth move but a real major league move. Their options in left field are not set ,and are less than ideal. An infielder playing out of position at left field, and a player whose heart is not in it ,and he’s over the hill too.
Cashman, Cohen, and Preller in a bidding war for Trevor Bauer and $20 million
Dodgers (or another team) would have to pay Bauer $22.1 million for the season.
Dodgers will release Bauer for public relations purposes if another team is only paying $2.1 million of that sum. The other team would pay $720,000 of that sum if Bauer is waived, so it would only be a $1.4 million savings.
But I do think the Dodgers would consider trading Bauer and paying $16 million of Bauer’s $22 million, and getting in return a 28 year-old single A level right- handed relief pitcher with an era of 8.10. The savings of 5-6 million justifies a trade, a $1 million savings probably has them just waive Bauer.
if the dodgers wanted the public relations points they should have released him already.
they could’ve announced that they plan on releasing him or whatever instead of having the LA times run articles saying the dodgers clubhouse is split on having him back
Greg
I mostly agree with you. Maybe if they do it too quickly, they think that there is added risk of a lawsuit of Players’ Union objection? But I assume that they are taking a few days to see if there is a trade worth the effort.
“I mostly agree with you.”
You see, it sounds innocent enough. Yet every time I’ve tried that sentence in my relationship she seems to take offense……
Good addition for 4th or 5th OF
He’s the fifth fourth outfielder they’ve added this month. And Hicks makes six.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. And, coincidentally, the Yankees were once known as…
And I’m sure they’re not done pink. They’ll be a few more left fielders added on minor-league contract soon.
I should say the fifth in the last 2-1/2 weeks.
The missing piece to the 2023 championship New York Yankees.
/s
Do you think you’re being funny, but it could be true. Reports I’ve heard, he’s already better than Hicks. Not that that would be difficult to do, but still. Anything that moves the needle a millimeter is an improvement. Obviously I hope they do more but I doubt it
He’ll be in the lineup in early May when Hicks goes down with one of his many injuries.
Hopefully, he’ll be injured for the next 3 years so insurance can pick up his salary (same as Elsbery)
Ellsbury when from stealing bases with the Red Sox to stealing money from the Yankees glol
When somebody points a gun at you and takes your wallet, that’s stealing. When you invite somebody to take your wallet, that’s being generous or stupid.
Not every player is insured by the team.
@A’sfan says who? Jon Heyman? Haven’t heard a peep
No one sas it. He is just speculating. My response to him is also just speculating. I think lips will be tight about Bauer until it is public, whatever is done.
Ortega is a nice guy as 5th outfielder or callup due to injury. Yankees did ok.
Let’s face it: the reason the Yankees are compiling low-level outfielders on cheap contracts is because Cashman gave out so many bad contracts and Hal doesn’t want to cross the next luxury tax threshold.
Too bad Hal didn’t see his way to firing Cash and hiring Sabean in his place. He sure has a high tolerance for seeing his money wasted.
If they plan on making Cabrera a utility player, Cashman had better pull off a trade for a real left fielder before Opening Day.
You nailed it pink. I hear the clarion call. And these minor league signings are no-brainers for Cashman. If they are not successful, as is likely ,nothing lost. If they catch lightning in a bottle, in some manner ,Cashman is hailed as a hero once again. He’s got nothing to lose.
Of course if he did his job, correctly,to begin with, these moves would not have to be made. At least not to the degree that they have made them.
So we got 3 outfielders.. lefties. I liked Benintendi.. not a hr hitter good in outfield. I think Yankee fans just liked him cause he was a Red Sox. I don’t think 70 mil was a good idea. Full year with oswaldo and maybe Volpe. People act like we didn’t win the division last year. Our pitching will prevail!
I think it’s more like people act like we lost to the Astros again, getting swept this last time.
BTW, they’ve added five outfielders: Ortega, McKinney, Calhoun, Westbrook and Hermosillo.
Ortega was ahead of Hermosillo on the Cubs’ depth chart. Hermosillo has more upside but could not put it together during his brief time in the show.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have Florial stashed in Triple-A where he ranked 13th in wRC+ and in the 19th tier in OPS among all qualified players, and they’ve given him a grand total of 54 big-league at-bats in three years.
The more the merrier pink. Maybe one of them will have a success at least for a brief time till we can get to the trade deadline which is will probably what Cashman is thinking.
Yanks really stocking up on “long shot” left field candidates. Was hoping to sign David Peralta, maybe they still will. Cashman not overpaying for Bryan Reynolds.
Hopefully Peraza and Volpe will not only improve the defense but the offense as well. To me it looks like Cashman wants to start the season with a lot of iffy candidates and if they all whiff, he finds someone at the trade deadline.
Yanks will have some competition for 4th/5th outfielder this spring.
After whomever wins 3rd.
And SS/MIF
They’re going to have competition for the first outfielder to. There’s no sure fire starter there amongst that group. Everyone knows that Hicks is cooked. Why do you think that Cashman is stockpiling outfielders in the minors. He’s hoping that one of them is a surprise even if temporary fix or success. Like Carpenter was last year.
As a Jays fan I have found NYY to be a way more enjoyable product the past 15 years and maybe I have gained an appreciation I hope one of our teams whips the Astros and what is Boston up to???
Always thought Ortega was a decent ball player when I saw him.
I would’ve preferred David Dahl over this guy
Nice little player, just shouldn’t be a starter which I’m sure he won’t be in NY.
I wouldn’t be so sure, from reports I’ve heard he’s better than Aaron hicks already. Obviously that’s a low bar, but still if it’s the only other option.
I thought this guy had oakland written all over him
He’s not the worst option to be the 5th OF, and he’s not the worst option to be a veteran mentor at AAA. In Chicago he was in an untenable spot of being the strong side platoon third OF, which is beyond his capacities.
I thought he would go to Atlanta to be injury depth at Gwinnett. He didn’t get a lot of breaks as a young player, so it would be good to see him get a couple of partial playoff shares late in his career.
solid depth move
best case: settles in as 5th outfielder and gets like 75 at-bats
likeliest case: every other LF option turns to garbage and he gets 400 at-bats
Agreed 100%