RSS Yankees Team Notes

Yankees Claim Rico Garcia

The Yankees have claimed right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Mets, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Mets designated Garcia for assignment last week. The Yankees had an open 40-man spot. Garcia is out of options, so they will need to open an active roster spot for him.

Garcia, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He then tossed 30 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 4.45 earned run average. He struck out 27.4% of batters faced but also gave out walks at a 14.8% clip.

The Mets lost a number of pitchers to the injured list in recent weeks and called Garcia up to the big leagues at the start of July. He got into two games and gave them 4 2/3 scoreless innings. He averaged over 96 miles per hour on his fastball while also throwing a slider, curveball and changeup. The Mets bumped him off the roster when Kodai Senga was reinstated from the IL.

The Yankee bullpen has recently taken a number of hits. Mark Leiter Jr., Fernando Cruz and Yerry De los Santos all hit the IL in the past few weeks. Jake Cousins has been on the IL all year but recently required Tommy John surgery.

Garcia was a freely-available arm who has posted some intriguing strikeout numbers this year, so the Yanks have grabbed him off the wire. Since he’s out of options, his grip on a roster spot may be tenuous. The Yanks, like all contenders, will surely be looking to make bullpen additions before the deadline.

The righty has also pitched for the Rockies, Giants, Orioles, Athletics and Nationals, but always in fairly limited stints. He has appeared in five major league seasons but has just 40 1/3 innings under his belt, posting a 6.47 ERA in that time. From 2022 to the present, he has 165 minor league innings with a 3.33 ERA, 31.7% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/yankees-claim-rico-garcia.html
 
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Alcantara, Cabrera, Fried, Gil, Garcia, Rodriguez

A ten-game winning streak has launched the Red Sox back into the playoff race, and all but confirmed that the club will be looking to buy before the trade deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has stated that the Sox are looking at pitching options, and MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam opines that the Red Sox would likely prefer controllable pitchers in particular, so this new hurler could help support the club’s talent core for more than just the remainder of 2025. However, as of two days ago, McAdam noted that Boston hadn’t yet spoken with the Marlins about two controllable potential trade candidates — Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera.

While there’s still plenty of time before the July 31 deadline for the Sox to inquire about either pitcher, the lack of interest to date might indicate that Breslow simply might have other pitchers on his target list. Alcantara’s past Cy Young Award-winning form makes him perhaps the summer’s likeliest trade candidate, yet the right-hander has struggled badly in his return from Tommy John surgery. Cabrera is arbitration-controlled through 2028 so the rebuilding Marlins might not see a reason to move him just yet, and certainly not for anything less than a massive trade return. Health is also a concern with Cabrera, as he left Friday’s start early due to elbow discomfort but might be able to avoid the injured list after a precautionary MRI came back clean.

More from around the AL East….

  • Yankees ace Max Fried left Saturday’s start after three innings due to a blister on the index finger of his throwing hand, and he told The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and other reporters today that it was too soon to tell whether or not Fried would be healed and ready to make his first start after the All-Star break. Fried is no stranger to blister problems, and the unpredictable nature of the injury means that it could be at least a few days before the southpaw or the club has any clarity on the situation. Despite some shaky results in his last three starts, Fried still finished the first half with tremendous numbers, including a 2.43 ERA over 122 innings in his debut season in New York.
  • Speaking of Yankees pitchers, Luis Gil has been sidelined all season by a lat strain, but the reigning AL Rookie of the Year began a minor league rehab assignment today with Double-A Somerset. Gil threw 36 strikes during the 50-pitch outing, recording six strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work while allowing a run on two hits and a walk. This sharp performance is a good sign for Gil as he gets back to full readiness, and his long layoff means that his rehab stint will probably stretch into August. An in-form Gil would be a massive boon for the Yankees’ rotation for the remainder of the season, and the team’s trust in Gil’s health could inform how much of a push New York makes for pitching help at the deadline.
  • Yimi Garcia may not need a rehab assignment for his sprained ankle, and he could rejoin the Blue Jays’ bullpen when first eligible to be activated from the 15-day injured list. (Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling was among the members of the Toronto beat to report the news.) Garcia has pitched just once in the majors since May 22, as he was first sidelined by a shoulder impingement and then quickly picked up his ankle sprain that necessitated a return to the 15-day IL on July 5. The reliever threw a bullpen session on Friday and is slated to throw another soon, and his recovery from those sessions should determine the Jays’ next step.
  • Rays right-hander Manuel Rodriguez will probably visit with doctors on Monday after experiencing elbow soreness during his most recent rehab outing, manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin and other reporters. A forearm strain sent Rodriguez to the 15-day IL just over a month ago, and Friday was supposed to be his final rehab outing, except the reliever’s elbow started acting up and his velocity dropped noticeably. Rodriguez has been an underrated bullpen weapon over his two-plus seasons in Tampa, delivering a 2.12 ERA over 68 relief innings since the start of the 2024 season. This isn’t the first time Rodriguez has dealt with a major arm problem, as an elbow strain cost him the majority of the 2022 campaign when Rodriguez was still a member of the Cubs organization.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...ntara-cabrera-fried-gil-garcia-rodriguez.html
 
Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson

Free agent reliever David Robertson has been throwing for interested clubs recently, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Two of his former clubs, the Mets and Yankees, have at least looked into the possibility of signing Robertson, per the report. Several other clubs are expected to scout a throwing session for Robertson over the next week or so.

Robertson, who turned 40 in April, hasn’t signed with a team since the 2024 season concluded. The right-hander was one of several notable older veterans who didn’t find offers to his liking in free agency. Lance Lynn encountered a similar situation and opted to retire. J.D. Martinez is unsigned as well and recently received some interest from the Rangers. Robertson’s recent and upcoming showcases for interested teams serve as a notable update on his status, signaling both an intent to play and at least some level of readiness to take the mound.

The lack of a compelling offer for Robertson wasn’t due to any downturn in results. The former All-Star and 16-year MLB veteran was terrific for Texas in 2024, pitching 72 innings of 3.00 ERA ball. Robertson picked up 34 holds and two saves while fanning a huge 33.4% of opponents against a 9.1% walk rate. He averaged 93.3 mph on his go-to cutter, which tied his 2023 mark for the highest of any single season in his career. Robertson’s 11.7% swinging-strike rate was a dip from his 2022-23 levels (13.3%) but right in line with his career 11.8% mark.

Back in April, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that Robertson had been seeking a $10MM annual salary in free agency over the winter. He earned $11.5MM with the Rangers last year ($5MM of it deferred). The Phillies also showed some interest in Robertson early in the season, even before Jose Alvarado was hit with an 80-game PED suspension, and they’re known to be on the lookout for bullpen help. It would stand to reason that they’re still interested in a reunion with Robertson themselves.

Presumably, Robertson will be prioritizing a deal with probable contenders. The Yankees, Mets and Phillies all fit that billing and are all among the top eight teams in terms of current playoff odds, per FanGraphs. The Tigers, Cubs, Astros, Blue Jays, Brewers and Mariners are all in extremely favorable postseason position as well, holding at least an 80% postseason chance per the odds at FanGraphs and/or Baseball Prospectus.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/yankees-mets-rumors-david-robertson.html
 
Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

The Yankees’ needs as the trade deadline looms aren’t exactly a well-kept secret. Gerrit Cole had Tommy John surgery before the season. Clarke Schmidt looks headed for the same fate. Luis Gil still hasn’t pitched due to a lat strain, and Ryan Yarbrough landed on the injured list late last month as well. DJ LeMahieu was released this morning in the wake of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s move back to second base. Half a bullpen’s worth of relievers are on the injured list.

Given that slate of injuries and poor performance, it’s not a surprise that general manager Brian Cashman made clear when addressing the media yesterday that he plans to pursue upgrades in the rotation, in the bullpen and in the infield (link via Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). Pitching was highlighted as a particular focus.

“Whether it’s bullpen guys or starting pitchers, it’s just all of it,” said the GM. “That’s the area. We have people that are capable, but I think it also needs to get some help.”

Yankees starters rank eighth in the majors with a collective 3.69 ERA, but that includes 78 2/3 innings of 3.32 ERA ball from Schmidt, whose season is very likely over. It also includes 40 innings of 3.83 ERA ball from Yarbrough, who’s on the shelf due to an oblique strain. The Yankees have gotten terrific performances from high-profile free agent additions Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, but rookie Will Warren has a 4.70 ERA in 19 starts and fellow prospect Cam Schlittler just made his MLB debut yesterday. Veteran Marcus Stroman only recently returned from the injured list and has a 7.45 ERA in five starts (albeit with better results post-injury than pre-injury).

In the bullpen, the Yankees have lost Fernando Cruz, Mark Leiter Jr., Jake Cousins and Yerry De los Santos within the past three weeks. Cousins’ season is over before it truly began, as he’ll require Tommy John surgery. Cruz has a Grade 2 oblique strain and is looking at a long absence. Leiter has a stress fracture in his fibula. While Cousins hasn’t pitched this season due to his injuries, the other three have combined for 87 1/3 innings of 3.30 ERA ball with 21 holds and four saves.

The need at one infield position has been apparent since the offseason. Chisholm can play both third base and second base but is a better defender and more comfortable at the latter. He voiced as much recently while still being careful to make a team-first, “wherever they need me” caveat. The Yankees moved Chisholm from the hot corner back to second base and designated LeMahieu for assignment yesterday. LeMahieu, whom Boone suggested is not physically capable of handling third base right now, has seen his glovework at second base decline as well. He was released this morning.

Chisholm should be a plus all-around option at second base, but there’s no such certainty at third base. Oswald Peraza is a former top prospect and a sound defender, but he’s hitting .152/.220/.254 on the season. Jorbit Vivas, recalled when LeMahieu was designated, has slashed .156/.255/.267 in 53 major league plate appearances and .286/.409/.393 in Triple-A. Backup catcher J.C. Escarra has logged two games at third base as well but isn’t a frequent option over there. The Yankees could use some help and have already been linked to Ryan McMahon, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and others.

Any acquisitions the club makes will count against an ominous financial backdrop. The Yankees are third-time tax payors in the top penalty bracket, meaning they’re paying a 110% tax on the average annual value of any incoming players. That’s on top of said player’s actual salary.

For instance, Sandy Alcantara is perhaps the most oft-speculated name on the starting pitching market, but he’s making $17MM this year and guaranteed another $19MM beyond the season. He’d cost the Yankees $12.5MM for the final two months of this season alone, plus next year’s $17MM salary, any subsequent taxes, and at least a $2MM buyout on a 2027 option. Yankees fans frequently ask about Jacob deGrom in the chats we host at MLBTR, but deGrom has a $37.85MM AAV on his remaining contract and a $40MM salary in 2025. He’d cost the Yankees a ridiculous $27.1MM just for the final two months of the season, before even considering the $75MM he’s owed in 2026-27 (and any taxes they’d pay on that sum) and/or his full no-trade clause.

The extent to which ownership is willing to further bump payroll remains unclear. The Yankees ran up against some clear financial limitations late in the most recent offseason. Managing partner Hal Steinbrenner has publicly and famously indicated that he doesn’t think a $300MM payroll is sustainable on an annual basis. The Yankees aren’t far from that threshold right now. Cashman said yesterday that Steinbrenner has told him to present any and all scenarios, regardless of cost, and cautioned not to assume that a player or players are too expensive. Those decisions will be made by ownership on a case-by-case basis.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/yankees-trade-rumors-pitching-third-base.html
 
Poll: AL MVP Race Check-In

Back in June, MLBTR conducted a pair of polls checking the temperature on the two MVP races, and both polls saw the league’s reigning MVP earn a dominating majority. Aaron Judge pulled in 55% of the vote in the American League poll, while Shohei Ohtani did even better as he commanded 57% of the vote in the National League’s poll. Since then, Ohtani has broken away from the pack in the NL as he’s more fully resumed two-way duties. While other players like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Pete Crow-Armstrong have put together excellent seasons of their own in the NL, it’s hard to see that race as anything other than Ohtani’s to lose headed into the final month of the season.

By contrast, the AL MVP race has tightened considerably over the past two months. A big part of that is the fact that Judge hasn’t looked like his usual superhuman self lately. The 33-year-old is still slashing an absurd .323/.439/.667 (193 wRC+), a figure that leads the majors by a substantial margin. However, Judge’s numbers have come down quite a bit in the past two months. Since the day our last AL MVP poll was published, Judge has hit “just” .240/.385/.540 with 12 homers and a 26% strikeout rate in 192 trips to the plate.

That lack of volume is thanks to a flexor strain in Judge’s elbow that sent him to the injured list for a minimum stint a few weeks ago, and his .210/.380/.403 slash line since returning from the injured list only underscores that he’s not playing at full strength. He’s also been relegated to a DH-only role for the month of August and has no timetable for his return to the outfield, though he’s already begun making throws to the infield in pregame workouts.

Of course, Judge looking mortal for a month or so wouldn’t be terribly noteworthy without someone mounting a substantial challenge for his league’s MVP award. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is doing exactly that. Raleigh’s phenomenal season has earned him plenty of attention all year, but he’s only garnered more attention as an MVP candidate in the weeks since Judge’s injury. Interestingly, Raleigh’s offensive numbers have slumped a bit right alongside Judge. While he was slashing .278/.383/.665 at the time of our last AL MVP poll, he’s hit a less robust .204/.311/.498 in 235 plate appearances since then. That includes a .202/.302/.524 slash line in August that isn’t all that far ahead of Judge’s numbers.

Even with the pair both cooling at the plate, Raleigh has still been playing catcher regularly and hasn’t missed time on the IL like Judge has. Raleigh, who secured just 37% of the vote in our last poll, now has eight more games played and 31 more plate appearances than Judge. It’s a small gap, but in a close race, an increased defensive workload and slight lead in terms of overall volume could be key differentiators.

There’s also the factor of history to be considered. Judge managed to surpass Ohtani in the 2022 AL MVP race in part because he set the AL home run record that season. Raleigh would need to hit 13 homers before the end of the season in order to take the title of AL home run king away from Judge, but his prodigious power has already secured him one piece of history that Judge has no hope of taking away: last night, he became the first catcher in MLB history to slug 50 homers in a season. All of that comes together to make Raleigh a legitimate contender for the award alongside Judge, and the fact that the pair are tied at the top of the MLB leaderboard with 7.3 fWAR a piece only further speaks to the viability of both candidates.

Few players in the AL have a realistic shot of challenging these two titans, but one player who could make an interesting case for himself with a strong September would be Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who finished second for the award behind Judge last year. Witt only received token consideration for the award in our last poll, garnering just 2.3% of the vote two months ago. Since then, however, he’s outperformed both Judge and Raleigh with a .313/.370/.524 slash line, a 13-for-14 record on the bases, and defense at shortstop that should make him a lock for his second consecutive Gold Glove award at the position. Witt’s 6.5 fWAR and 130 wRC+ both substantially trail Judge and Raleigh at this point, but if those two continue trending downward while Witt continues trending up, it’s at least possible that we could be in for a three-horse race.

Who do MLBTR readers think will ultimately win this year’s AL MVP award? Will Judge hold onto the title for the second year in a row? Will Raleigh’s historic season behind the plate be enough? Could Witt’s second-half surge be enough to overcome both of them? Have your say in the poll below:

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/american-league-mvp-cal-raleigh-aaron-judge-poll.html
 
Yankees To Designate JT Brubaker For Assignment

The Yankees are designating right-hander JT Brubaker for assignment, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. The corresponding move for Brubaker’s departure is not yet known.

Brubaker’s time with the Yankees has been punctuated by frequent injury. Acquired from the Pirates alongside $550K of international bonus pool space for a player to be named later (Keiner Delgado) in March of 2024, he’s only pitched 16 innings in the majors.

Brubaker was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery at the time of the trade sending him to the Bronx, though he was nearly at the one-year mark. He was targeting a midseason return but suffered an oblique strain during his rehab stint in July. He never made it back to the mound thereafter. This spring, he was quickly placed on the injured list after a comeback liner struck him in the chest and fractured three ribs. He was finally activated for his team debut in mid-June.

The 31-year-old Brubaker held opponents to six runs in 16 innings (3.38 ERA) but did so with a paltry 15.9% strikeout rate and a massive 14.3% walk rate. He also plunked a batter, meaning nearly 16% of his opponents in his brief run reached base without putting a ball in play. On top of his command troubles in the majors, Brubaker walked 12.5% of his opponents in five rehab appearances between Double-A and Triple-A (18 1/3 innings).

Though Brubaker didn’t pitch in the majors at all in 2023-24, he was solid for the Pirates in 2022, eating up 144 innings with a pedestrian 4.69 ERA but far more encouraging rate stats. Brubaker was dogged by a .334 average on balls in play that year but fanned 22.8% of his opponents against an 8.4% walk rate while generating a 44% grounder rate. Those were effectively league-average rate stats across the board — enough for metrics like FIP (3.92) and SIERA (3.97) to view him far more favorably.

With the trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, Brubaker will simply head to waivers. The Yankees have up to five days before they need to place him there. Brubaker has five-plus years of major league service, meaning he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. Any team that claims him would be on the hook for the remainder of this year’s $1.82MM salary (about $528K). It’s possible that a contending club looking for some long relief/rotation depth could place a claim, but given his walk issues and lengthy layoff from pitching, there’s a better chance he’ll clear. Because he has five years of big league service, he’d be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and still retain the entirety of his guaranteed salary.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-to-designate-jt-brubaker-for-assignment.html
 
Padres Notes: Payroll, Miller, Sears

The Padres’ flurry of deadline dealings brought Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Will Wagner and Freddy Fermin to San Diego. The slate of new acquisitions addressed major deficiencies in left field and behind the plate to varying levels while also deepening the pitching staff. It was another frenetic deadline for the Friars — one that was complicated not only by a lack of depth in the farm but also some financial constraints. The Padres operated with minimal payroll flexibility in the winter, and it seems ownership’s budgetary crunch carried over to the deadline.

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports that the Orioles and Brewers both sent substantial cash considerations to the Padres in the respective trades involving O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes. Baltimore sent $3.324MM to San Diego, while Milwaukee included $2.169MM in cash. The combined $5,493,300 the Padres received in that pair of trades effectively pays the trio of O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes down to the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season. Each of the other four players acquired by the Padres (Miller, Sears, Wagner, Fermin) was earning scarcely more than the $760K minimum as a pre-arbitration player.

The Padres are still more than $25MM north of the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResource, so the influx of cash won’t help them stay under the tax threshold (or even out of the second penalty tier). It does, however, mean the Padres barely added anything to their actual cash payroll for the 2025 season. That’s seemingly been the bigger concern than the luxury threshold anyhow. Nick Pivetta’s four-year contract, for instance, came with a $13.75MM average annual value but pays him just $4MM in 2025 (a $1MM salary and $3MM signing bonus).

San Diego’s actual cash payroll sits a bit above $213MM. It’s not clear what sort of payroll expectations ownership will have for the 2026 season, but there’s already more than $166MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books. That doesn’t include the $6.5MM club option on Laureano, which seems like a lock to be exercised.

That number also fails to account for arbitration raises. Each of Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Gavin Sheets will be due raises on this year’s salaries ($4.8MM, $2MM and $1.6MM, respectively). Miller, Sears, Fermin and righty Bryan Hoeing will be arbitration-eligible for the first time. Miller, in particular, will be in line for a notable salary. Closer Robert Suarez has a two-year, $16MM player option he’s likely to decline this winter, however, which would subtract an $8MM salary from the books.

Between Laureano’s option and the slate of arbitration raises, San Diego’s payroll can be reasonably expected to climb close to $200MM before making a single addition. Assuming Suarez indeed opts out, the Padres would be looking at a payroll in the $190-192MM range. If the goal is a payroll in the same realm as this year’s $213MM mark, that doesn’t leave a ton of additional space. Then again, each of Miller, Laureano, Fermin, Wagner and Sears proactively addressed some 2026 needs, and the Padres expect to welcome Joe Musgrove back to next year’s rotation after he missed the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.

Due to that financial situation, the Padres presumably had to include more prospect capital in their deadline trades than if they didn’t need the other club to eat significant money. That’s a notable element as the Padres have traded away a large number of prospect in previous deals, so their farm system hasn’t been considered especially strong lately. Coming into this year, MLB.com ranked their farm 25th out of the 30 teams in the league, with Baseball America putting the Friars 26th.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Padres’ lack of impact talent was initially a roadblock in the Miller talks. Rosenthal notes that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller tried to line up a three-team deal. He asked the A’s to tell him which prospects they wanted from other clubs, with the goal of then acquiring those players to send them to the A’s for Miller. There were rumors the Padres were considering trading majors leaguers like Dylan Cease or Suarez, so perhaps Preller could have traded one of those guys for the prospects he needed to get Miller.

However, the A’s didn’t want to take that complicated route and wanted to just deal directly with one club. They got interest from clubs like the Yankees, Phillies and Mets, but those clubs weren’t willing to surrender their top prospects. Specifically, Rosenthal notes that the Phillies weren’t willing to include Andrew Painter while the Yanks wouldn’t part with Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr.

The Padres were eventually able to get the deal done, despite their weak farm system, by including top prospect Leo De Vries. They also included pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Núñez but De Vries was the key piece to getting the deal done. Having now traded De Vries and several other prospects, the Friars will presumably have an even weaker farm system in next year’s rankings, but that is seemingly a price they were willing to pay in order to build a winning team here in 2025.

As for Sears, the other player who came to San Diego alongside Miller, he may be viewed more as depth than a key piece of the club’s push this year. He started for the club on Monday, allowing five earned runs in five innings against the Diamondbacks, before getting optioned to Triple-A yesterday.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that Sears may not be recalled in the remainder of the season, unless someone gets hurt. Michael King is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment, having thrown 3 1/3 innings in his first rehab start on Sunday. Once he’s healthy, the rotation will be Cease, King, Pivetta, Cortes and Yu Darvish. That would leave Sears in a depth role alongside guys like Randy Vásquez, Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron.

Going forward, however, the path to a role opens up. Each of Cease, King and Cortes are impending free agents. Musgrove should fill one of those vacancies but that still leaves space for Sears to carve out a role in next year’s rotation.

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/padres-notes-payroll-miller-sears.html
 
MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.


This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…


Check out our past episodes!


The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/mlbtr-podcast-sifting-through-the-trade-deadline-deals.html
 
Yankees Release JT Brubaker

The Yankees announced today that right-hander JT Brubaker has been released. The Yanks had designated him for assignment earlier this week. He has over five years of big league service time, meaning he could have rejected an outright assignment while keeping his $1.82MM salary intact. The Yanks have skipped that formality and sent him to the open market.

The Yanks will remain on the hook for the remainder of that salary. Another club could sign Brubaker and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the $760K league minimum salary. Anything paid by another club would be subtracted from the Yankees’ commitments.

Brubaker, 31, is a few years removed from his best big league work. From 2020 to 2022, he tossed 315 1/3 innings for the Pirates, primarily as a starter. In that time, he had a 4.99 earned run average, though he probably deserved better. His 23.3% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate were all around league average. His .313 batting average on balls in play and 16.3% home run to fly ball rate were both on the unfortunate side. His 4.43 FIP and 4.04 SIERA suggested he could have been better than his ERA indicated.

In April of 2023, he required Tommy John surgery, wiping out that entire season. The Yanks took a chance on him, acquiring him from the Pirates around Opening Day of 2024. They sent Keiner Delgado as the player to be named later, getting Brubaker and international bonus pool space. The Yanks were likely hoping for some contributions in the second half of that year but Brubaker suffered an oblique strain while rehabbing in July and didn’t pitch for them that year.

The Yanks tendered him a contract for 2025 but the injury bug was again a problem. During a spring training contest, Brubaker was hit by a comebacker and fractured three ribs. He came off the IL in mid-June and was used in a long relief role. He tossed 16 innings over 12 appearances for the Yankees with a 3.38 ERA. His 44.2% ground ball rate was still decent but his 15.9% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate were not great.

The past few years have obviously been a struggle but Brubaker has been a good major league pitcher in the past and is essentially free now that he’s been released. He should be receiving a few calls in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-release-jt-brubaker.html
 
Yankees Notes: Slater, Stanton, Williams

Acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline, Austin Slater made only two appearances in the pinstripes before he suffered a left hamstring strain. Slater was placed on the 10-day injured list on August 5, and he’ll unfortunately be missing far more than just the 10-day minimum, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner) that Slater will need 4-6 weeks of recovery time.

It’s a tough break for both Slater and the Yankees, as the nine-year veteran was expected to bring some needed right-handed hitting balance to New York’s outfield mix. Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham both hit from the left side and Jasson Dominguez is a switch-hitter, plus Aaron Judge is still limited to DH duty as he fully recovers from a right flexor strain. The idea was that Slater would primarily platoon with Dominguez in left field, but that plan will now have to be put on hold until September.

Even if Slater had been healthy, Giancarlo Stanton was expected to get some outfield time in the wake of Judge’s injury, as the Yankees weren’t going to keep Stanton’s bat out of the lineup entirely. Stanton’s return to the grass has come today, as the slugger is penciled in as the Yankees’ starting right fielder for today’s game with the Astros. With left-hander Framber Valdez on the mound, the Yankees are utilizing most of their right-handed bats in the starting lineup, leaving Dominguez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Austin Wells on the bench.

It marks the first time since September 14, 2023 that Stanton has played a position other than designated hitter. Multiple lower-body injuries limited Stanton’s time in the outfield, and even his move into a seeming full-time DH role came at a physical cost. Stanton didn’t make his 2025 debut until June 16 as he was dealing with torn tendons in both elbows.

With all of this in mind, Stanton is expected to be used only sparingly in the outfield, since the Yankees naturally want to keep him healthy for the stretch drive. Stanton has hit .268/.345/.528 with 10 homers over his 142 plate appearances this season, with a 139 wRC+ that would be his highest since the 2020 campaign.

New York needs all the help it can get as the club tries to get its season back on track. The Yankees are only 19-30 over their last 49 games, dropping from first place in the AL East to just a half-game lead over the surging Guardians for the final AL wild card slot. Relief pitching is one of the chief culprits for the Yankees’ slide, as the team’s bullpen 4.90 ERA since June 13 ranks 26th of the 30 big league teams.

The acquisitions of Camilo Doval, David Bednar, and Jake Bird at the trade deadline was supposed to stop the bleeding on the relief front, yet Bird has already been optioned to Triple-A and Doval and Bednar have each had some shaky moments in their brief stints as Yankees. Devin Williams has also continued to struggle, and he picked up the loss by allowing three runs (two earned) during the 10th inning of yesterday’s 5-3 loss to the Astros.

After years as a relief ace with the Brewers, Williams now has a 5.73 ERA over 44 innings with New York. To put it in perspective, Williams allowed only 48 total earned runs in 235 2/3 innings over his six seasons prior to 2025, but he has already been touched for 28 ER in his lone season with the Yankees.

Given these numbers, Kirschner opined that Williams might not even last the season in the Bronx, as the Yankees could opt to just release him in a few weeks once some other relievers (i.e. Fernando Cruz, Ryan Yarbrough) return from the IL. Such a scenario would’ve seemed unthinkable heading into the 2025 season, and many of Williams’ secondary metrics are in line with his career norms. It seemed like he had gotten on track during a dominant stretch from mid-May until the All-Star break, but Williams has a 10.38 ERA over his last 8 2/3 innings, and has allowed at least one earned run in each of his last five outings.

At the very least, it would seem like Williams can’t be trusted for any more high-leverage work. (Even last night, he likely wouldn’t have been used in the 10th inning if other pitchers hadn’t been unavailable.) A more extreme move like a release might hinge on how the rest of the bullpen is performing or if the Yankees feel they have enough depth, but as Kirschner notes, there is already virtually no chance New York would re-sign Williams in free agency this winter. If the team is going to cut ties anyway and Williams may not even be a candidate for a postseason roster at this point, a release in September might not be out of the question.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-notes-slater-stanton-williams.html
 
Yankees Place Amed Rosario On 10-Day Injured List

The Yankees have placed utility player Amed Rosario on the 10-day injured list with a left SC joint sprain. The team announced the move this morning, ahead of their afternoon matchup with the Astros. To replace Rosario on the active roster, they recalled catcher J.C. Escarra from Triple-A.

The 29-year-old Rosario signed a one-year, $2MM contract with the Nationals over the offseason, and Washington sent him to New York ahead of the trade deadline last month. While he slashed a respectable .270/.310/.426 (104 wRC+) in 47 games with the Nationals, he hit the ground running with his new team, going 3-for-7 with a double over his first four games. The Yankees acquired him to help against left-handed pitching, and that’s precisely what he did, taking six of his seven plate appearances against southpaws.

Rosario is no longer an everyday player like he was during his years with the Mets and Guardians, but he remains a productive short-side platoon bat. He has a career .801 OPS and 121 wRC+ against opposite-handed opponents, and he’s only improved those numbers in 2025, with an .838 OPS and 132 wRC+ with the platoon advantage. Rosario also offers value through versatility. Once an everyday shortstop, he now sees more time at second and third base and can also cover a corner outfield spot.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Rosario is the second of their recently acquired righty bats to hit the shelf this month; outfielder Austin Slater suffered a hamstring strain and won’t be back for about four to six weeks. As for Rosario, he injured his non-throwing shoulder running into the outfield wall on Friday, but the sprain does not seem to be serious. According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Rosario does not expect to be out for any more than the minimum of 10 days.

In his place, the Yankees will have to rely a little more heavily on fellow righty-batting utility player José Caballero. Escarra is a lefty bat (of which the Yankees already have many), but with Aaron Judge leading an offense that also features Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe, Caballero, and the switch-hitting Jasson Domínguez, it’s not as if the team is devoid of right-handed bats. In fact, the Yankees lead the majors in OPS and wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-place-amed-rosario-on-10-day-injured-list.html
 
Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The AL East?

The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Starting last week, MLBTR began running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. So far, the Phillies, Reds, Padres, Mariners, and Twins have each come out on top in their respective divisions. Today, we’ll be finishing the series with the AL East. Here’s a look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays bolstered their bullpen, their offense, and their catching depth ahead of the trade deadline, but their biggest move was a high-risk, high-reward deal to upgrade the top of their rotation. Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland give manager John Schneider two more hard-throwing late-inning options, and while Domínguez is a rental, Varland is under team control through 2030. Ty France has played almost every day since he came over from the Twins alongside Varland, alternating between first base and DH. It’s been several years since he was much more than a league-average bat, but he’s hit well so far with Toronto. Former Padres prospect Brandon Valenzuela offers catching depth at Triple-A.

The crown jewel of general manager Ross Atkins’s deadline was 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, who is nearing his return from the Tommy John surgery that’s kept him out since last April. The Blue Jays will hope he can be the ace they’ve been lacking all season. In a best-case scenario, the Jays acquired the pitcher who will start game one of their first playoff series as they try to break out of a long postseason losing streak. In a worst-case scenario, they gave up a promising pitching prospect (Khal Stephen) in exchange for a guy who won’t be able to pitch like he did before his injury. Bieber has a $16MM player option for 2026 with a $4MM buyout.

In exchange for Bieber, Domínguez, Varland, France, and Valenzuela, Toronto parted with young major leaguers Alan Roden and Will Wagner, as well as pitching prospects Stephen, Kendry Rojas, and Juaron Watts-Brown. That’s no small price to pay, but the Blue Jays are hoping they added enough to help them secure their first AL East title in a decade.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox made the biggest trade of the season in June, sending All-Star slugger Rafael Devers (and the nine years left on his contract) to the Giants in exchange for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III, and Jose Bello. Yet, they were rather quiet ahead of the trade deadline. They reportedly expressed interest in a wide variety of players, including Jhoan Duran, Eugenio Suárez, Yandy Díaz, Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell, and Dalton Rushing, as well as front-line starters Dylan Cease, Mitch Keller, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Sandy Alcantara, and, until late on deadline day, Joe Ryan. However, all they ultimately added was a back-end starter, Dustin May, and a left-handed long reliever, Steven Matz. They did not pick up any bats. May has a 4.93 ERA and 4.31 SIERA in 20 games (19 starts) this year, including a poor first outing with Boston last week. Matz has pitched well in his first season as a full-time reliever, putting up a 3.22 ERA and 3.53 SIERA in 58 2/3 frames. He has yet to allow a run in three outings with the Sox. Both will be free agents at the end of the year.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s seeming failure to add a more talented starting pitcher, the kind Boston would feel confident starting in a playoff series, looked all the worse after the news broke that Tanner Houck would undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season. That being said, the Red Sox have continued to play well since the deadline. They now hold the second Wild Card spot and boast the highest run differential in the American League. While they didn’t add much to help them make a playoff push, the flip side is that they didn’t have to give up much either. For instance, they held onto Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, two players the Twins were reportedly seeking in exchange for Ryan – and two players who have been key contributors for the Red Sox all year.

New York Yankees

The Yankees were one of the league’s busiest buyers at the deadline, adding three notable bullpen arms and several complementary pieces for the lineup. All-Star closers David Bednar and Camilo Doval arrived in New York, alongside fellow righty Jake Bird, to join a bullpen that already featured Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. All three have had their struggles since they joined the team (as has Williams), but at its best, this Yankees bullpen still has the potential to be the best in the American League. Bednar is enjoying another dominant season after putting his poor 2024 behind him, and Doval, too, has bounced back from a disappointing 2024 campaign to post strong numbers in 2025. Bird was optioned to Triple-A after just three appearances for his new club, but he’s an experienced big league reliever with intriguing stuff. At worst, he’s a durable depth piece with options remaining, and at best, he’s a whole lot more. All three bullpen additions are under team control beyond this season: Bednar for one more year, Doval for two, and Bird for three.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. can only play one position at a time, and when that position became second base again, the Yankees needed a real solution at third. Ryan McMahon is that solution, and utility men José Caballero and Amed Rosario (when healthy) can help him out with a left-handed pitcher on the mound. GM Brian Cashman also brought righty-batting outfielder Austin Slater aboard to join Caballero and Rosario in balancing out a lefty-heavy lineup. Unfortunately for the Bombers, Rosario and Slater have both already hit the IL. Rosario is expected back from a minor shoulder sprain shortly, but Slater will be out for most of the regular season with a hamstring strain. Even so, the Yankees aren’t exactly missing Oswald Peraza, whom they flipped to the Angels; the former top prospect struggled badly for the past three years and desperately needed a change of scenery.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays started July with a top-10 record in MLB and sole possession of the first AL Wild Card spot. By deadline day, they had fallen below .500. Of course, it’s hard to say if that changed their deadline plans at all. As usual, the Rays did a bit of selling and a bit of buying. They dealt two key members of their starting rotation, Taj Bradley and Zack Littell, and two members of their regular starting lineup, utility man Caballero and catcher Danny Jansen. Yet, they also added a rental starter, Adrian Houser; two new catchers, Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia; and two relievers, Griffin Jax and Bryan Baker. Jax and Houser were two of the more sought-after players on the market, Houser due to his cheap contract and surprisingly dominant numbers with the White Sox, and Jax because he’s one of the game’s best relievers under team control for several more years.

Also noteworthy are the players the Rays chose not to trade. A few days before the deadline, they were said to be open to trading Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe, but they ultimately held on to both veterans. The Rays also kept closer Pete Fairbanks. A week before the deadline, a report suggested they would “strongly prefer” to keep Fairbanks, but it’s not as if he wasn’t drawing interest. Lowe, Díaz, and Fairbanks are three of the tight-fisted Rays’ more expensive players. Fairbanks and Lowe only have one year of team control remaining after 2025, while Díaz is signed through 2026 with a club option for 2027. The team’s decision to keep them around seems to suggest they’re hoping to contend this year, even after parting with the likes of Bradley, Littell, Caballero, and Jansen.

Baltimore Orioles

They weren’t quite as active as the Twins, but the Orioles took advantage of a seller’s market to make the most of their disappointing situation. They traded 2025 All-Star Ryan O’Hearn, the surprisingly productive Ramon Laureano, long-tenured center fielder Cedric Mullins, utility infielder Ramon Urías, veteran starter Charlie Morton, and relievers Domínguez, Baker, Andrew Kittredge, and Gregory Soto. In exchange, they brought back Boston Bateman, Brandon Butterworth, Cobb Hightower, Victor Figueroa, Tyson Neighbors, and Tanner Smith (O’Hearn/Laureno); Raimon Gomez, Anthony Nunez and Chandler Marsh (Mullins); Twine Palmer (Urías); Micah Ashman (Morton); Juaron Watts-Brown (Domínguez); Wilfri De La Cruz (Kittredge); Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster (Soto); and a 2025 Competitive Balance (Round A) draft selection, No. 37 overall (Baker).

According to MLB Pipeline, Bateman slots in as their No. 9 prospect, while Watts-Brown slots in at No. 13, De La Cruz at No. 24, Hightower at No. 26, and Aracena at No. 29. Only time will tell how well these trades work out for the Orioles, but it’s hard to deny they made the right call to sell when they did, and they succeeded in dealing almost all of their healthy impending free agents. Meanwhile, they didn’t part with any pieces that could contribute significantly in 2026 and beyond. Fans can hope that GM Mike Elias will use the money he saved and prospects he added at the deadline to improve the O’s roster over the offseason and bring winning baseball back to Baltimore next year.

Entering the season, many thought the AL East would be the most talented and competitive division in the league. It could very well still produce three playoff teams and four clubs above .500, but not many would have guessed the division would shake out quite like this, with the Blue Jays leading at the deadline and the Orioles selling off parts. There are still seven weeks left for the AL East to continue surprising us, and the moves each team made at the deadline could play a big part in all that. So, which of these five do you think had the best deadline? Have your say in the poll below:

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/poll-who-had-the-best-deadline-in-the-al-east.html
 
Yankees Sign Rob Brantly To Minor League Deal

The Yankees have signed veteran catcher Rob Brantly to a minor league deal, per an announcement from their Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate. He’ll return to the Yankees organization and provide some depth behind the plate.

The 36-year-old Brantly was with the Marlins for most of the season. He signed a minor league deal with Miami in the winter, was selected to the major league roster in April and wound up spending a couple months on the 60-day injured list after suffering a lat strain during his brief call-up. He tallied a trio of singles in seven at-bats during his limited time with the big league club and has slashed .359/.390/.590 in a tiny sample of 41 plate appearances with the Marlins’ Triple-A club in Jacksonville this year.

Brantly has appeared in parts of 10 big league seasons but hasn’t topped 36 MLB plate appearances in a given year since 2013. He’s a .226/.286/.323 hitter in 472 big league plate appearances and has played in parts of 13 Triple-A seasons with more than 2700 plate appearances to his credit. He saw brief MLB time with the Yankees in 2021-22 and had a generally productive two years in Triple-A with the Yankees organization in that time.

The Yankees are set at catcher in the majors, with Austin Wells, J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice all on the roster. They traded catching prospects Rafael Flores and Jesus Rodriguez in respective deals to bring David Bednar and Camilo Doval into the bullpen. Brantly will help to replenish some of that lost upper-level catching depth.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-sign-rob-brantly-to-minor-league-deal.html
 
Yankees Re-Sign Andrew Velazquez

The Yankees have signed infielder Andrew Velazquez to a new minor league contract, according to his MLB.com profile page. Velazquez was released from his previous minors deal on August 3, and he’ll now return to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after testing the open market.

A veteran of six MLB seasons, Velazquez hit .189/.244/.293 over 624 plate appearances and 275 games with five different teams from 2018-23. Most of his playing time (179 games) came with the Angels during the 22-23 seasons, and Velazquez had close to a starting role as the Halos’ shortstop in the 2022 campaign. His time in Los Angeles ended when he was claimed off waivers by the Braves in September 2023, and Velazquez hasn’t been back to the majors since, playing with Atlanta’s Triple-A team in 2024 and then spending all of 2025 in SWB.

This latest contract represents the fourth time Velazquez has signed with the Yankees, and the Bronx native saw some big league action with his hometown team in the form of 28 games in the pinstripes in 2021. While the local flavor doesn’t hurt, Velasquez is a known quantity to the New York organization who can provide defensive versatility even if he doesn’t offer much at the plate. Velasquez has primarily played shortstop during his career, but he has a lot of experience at second base, third base, and all three outfield positions (primarily center). His work on the grass this year has been limited to a single appearance in center field, indicating that the Yankees view him as an emergency outfielder at best.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-re-sign-andrew-velazquez.html
 
Latest On Aaron Judge’s Flexor Strain

Aaron Judge is currently limited to DH-only duties after he was briefly sidelined by a right flexor strain last month. He’s still hitting a solid .229/.426/.429 in 11 games since coming off the injured list, but manager Aaron Boone cast some doubt on his ability to return to full strength this year when it comes to throwing yesterday. As noted by The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, Boone said in both a radio appearance on WFAN and an appearance on Jomboy Media’s Talkin’ Yanks podcast that Judge may not be “throwing like normal” again this year.

Notably, Boone did not say that Judge won’t throw again this year. On Talkin’ Yanks, Boone suggested that Judge will probably need “to play with a little bit of a governor” on his throws before adding that he won’t return to the field until he can throw safely. Kirschner adds that Boone went on to suggest that his comments may have been “a little” overstated, while Judge challenged his manager’s framing of the situation by noting that Boone hadn’t seen him throw in two weeks before adding that he’s “pretty confident” he’ll get back to throwing at full strength this year. At the same time, Judge emphasized that he’s going to “be smart about it” in order to ensure he doesn’t aggravate his ailing elbow and miss more time than his initial ten-day stint on the shelf.

Judge’s injury has forced the Yankees into a difficult balancing act. Any day where the reigning AL MVP can’t hit for the Yankees is a crushing blow, so giving him as long as he might need to act as a pure DH and rest his elbow makes plenty of sense. At the same time, Giancarlo Stanton has been incredibly productive (hitting .299/.377/.576) in 44 games since returning from the injured list earlier this year. A laundry list of past injuries and the likelihood that playing the field could cause additional wear and tear on Stanton’s body has essentially made him into a full-time DH of late, and his recent appearances in right field while Judge has been forced into the DH slot have been his first outings on the grass since 2023.

Stanton has not appeared in more than 38 games in the outfield since 2018, suggesting that playing Stanton in the field can’t be viewed as more than a short-term solution. With Stanton hitting well and unlikely to be able to handle regular outfield work for long, the Yankees will be better off the sooner Judge can return to the field—so long as Judge doesn’t cause himself to miss time by doing so. The change has also caused Ben Rice to get more starts behind the plate in order to allow both him and Paul Goldschmidt to stay in the lineup on a regular basis, cutting the playing time of Austin Wells. Of course, Wells has struggled at the plate recently with a .119/.172/.186 slash line since the All-Star break, so he may well have been in line to lose some playing time even before Judge took over at DH.

While the club waits for Judge to be healthy enough to play the field, they’re locked in a tight playoff race. The Blue Jays have opened up a five game lead over New York to take control of the AL East, but the Yankees are just one game ahead of the Red Sox and Mariners among the AL’s Wild Card teams, with Kansas City lurking just 2.5 games back of a playoff spot and Cleveland only three games out. The final few weeks of the season will be crucial as those five clubs vie for their league’s three Wild Card spots, and if the playoff race tightens further that will only give further importance to the Yankees’ decision-making going forward regarding Judge and Stanton.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/latest-on-aaron-judges-flexor-strain.html
 
Jonathan Loaisiga Headed For Second Opinion With Likely Flexor Strain

Jonathan Loáisiga appears to be in for another significant absence. Yankees manager Aaron Boone tells reporters (including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic) that the oft-injured reliever is believed to have suffered a flexor strain. A more specific diagnosis and treatment plan will be known after the righty goes for a second opinion.

Loáisiga was already on the 15-day injured list due to mid-back tightness. That was a relatively minor issue, and the Yanks sent him on a rehab assignment after just two weeks on the shelf. He sustained the more significant forearm injury during an appearance with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre over the weekend. It’s now difficult to imagine Loáisiga pitching again this season. Depending on the results of the second opinion, it’s possible his ’26 season could be impacted.

Arm injuries are unfortunately nothing new for Loáisiga. He lost most of last season to a flexor repair that kept him from making his season debut until May. Loáisiga had previously undergone a full Tommy John surgery while he was in the minor leagues. He’d spent time on the IL with shoulder problems in 2019, 2021 and ’22. A pair of elbow-related IL stints kept him to 17 games in 2023.

Loáisiga has generally been effective when he has been healthy enough to pitch. That hasn’t so much been the case this year. He carries a 4.25 earned run average through 29 2/3 innings. He has only fanned 18.5% of opponents while giving up more than two home runs per nine innings. It might’ve put him on the fringe of the Yankees’ playoff roster had he been healthy, assuming the team gets to the postseason.

The Yankees hold a $5MM option on Loáisiga for next season. His inconsistent performance made it look likelier than they’d decline that even if he were healthy. A season-ending forearm injury would make it a formality that the team cuts him loose at the beginning of the winter.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...second-opinion-with-likely-flexor-strain.html
 
Yankees Sign Paul Blackburn

The Yankees announced that they have signed right-hander Paul Blackburn, with fellow righty Allan Winans optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the corresponding move. The Yanks have had an open 40-man spot since JT Brubaker was designated for assignment earlier this month. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe first noted that Blackburn was in the Yankee clubhouse. Blackburn tells Chris Kirschner of The Athletic that he expects to work out of the bullpen.

Blackburn has been having an injury-marred season but he is currently healthy and stretched out. About a month ago, he started a rehab assignment while on the Mets’ injured list due to a shoulder impingement. From July 22nd to August 8th, he made four rehab appearances, each lasting at least five innings. He didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of them.

The Mets didn’t really have a rotation spot for him, so they reinstated him from the IL and put him in the bullpen. On August 13th, he tossed five innings of long relief against Atlanta, allowing two earned runs. Despite that generally solid run of results, the Mets designated Blackburn for assignment when they promoted prospect Nolan McLean on Saturday. Blackburn then cleared release waivers, allowing him to sign this deal with the Yankees.

Since he has been released, that also means he is essentially free for the Yanks. The Mets remain on the hook for the majority of his salary. The Yankees only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for the time he spends on the roster. That amount will be subtracted from what the Mets pay.

The Yankees currently have a rotation consisting of Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Will Warren and Cam Schlittler, so Blackburn will slide into a long relief role. Though he’s been hurt for most of 2025 and has a 6.85 earned run average, he has past major league success. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed a combined 290 1/3 innings with a 4.43 earned run average, 20.2% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. As mentioned, he’s been getting decent results lately and is cheap.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-sign-paul-blackburn.html
 
Yankees Notes: Judge, Volpe, Cruz

Aaron Judge has been hampered by a flexor strain in recent weeks. He first spent a minimum stint on the injured list to rest his ailing elbow, and since returning he’s been limited to exclusively DH work. Earlier this week, some questions were raised about just what shape Judge will be able to get his throwing arm back into before the end of the year. Fortunately, any concerns over Judge’s ability to throw seem to be on hold for the time being as Judge started throwing to the bases from the outfield during pregame workouts today.

The reigning AL MVP told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) today that was about “checking a box” in his rehab and that he’s sticking purely to what the team’s trainers tell him to do as he works his way back into condition to resume regular duties in the outfield. Manager Aaron Boone, meanwhile, told reporters (including The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty) that while Judge “looked good” throwing to second base today, there’s still no timetable for his return to the grass in a game setting. Boone emphasized that the club feels it’s important to take Judge’s recovery process slowly in order to avoid re-injury.

That, of course, makes sense given how important Judge’s 196 wRC+ bat is to the lineup. Judge’s .218/.386/.418 (126 wRC+) slash line since returning from the IL on August 5 isn’t quite as robust as his usual otherworldly numbers, but it’s still well above average production that virtually any other hitter in the sport would be happy with. In the meantime, Giancarlo Stanton has begun playing in right field as a temporary solution to get his bat in the lineup while Judge occupies the DH slot.

Stanton’s return to the outfield isn’t the only shakeup of the Yankees lineup from the past few days. Shortstop Anthony Volpe has had a rough year on both sides of the ball, and today Boone made the decision to leave him out of the club’s starting lineup with deadline addition Jose Caballero starting at shortstop in his stead. Boone was non-committal before the game (as noted by Greg Joyce of the New York Post) about when Volpe would return to the starting lineup, but he was used as a defensive replacement in tonight’s game against the Red Sox. After a four-hit performance on August 1, Volpe has hit a paltry .121/.171/.242 in his last 19 games and was charged with an error in last night’s contest. That was enough for the Yankees to decide mix things up for at least a little while, but Volpe suggested after the game to reporters (including Kuty) that he’ll be back in the lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Nationals after sitting out tomorrow as well.

For now, it seems like this time out of the lineup is just an opportunity for Volpe to reset amid a tough stretch both at the plate and in the field. With that said, it’s at least possible that the Yankees could be looking to get Caballero a bit more playing time. Since coming over from the Rays at this year’s trade deadline, Caballero has slashed .320/.433/.600 in 31 plate appearances across 14 games with the organization. While Caballero is generally regarded as a below-average hitter overall, that recent hot streak in conjunction with his fairly well-regarded glove and impressive speed on the basepaths could be enough to earn the soon to be 29-year-old infielder some more playing time down the stretch, particularly if Volpe’s struggles continue.

On the pitching side of things, Hoch reports that the Yankees are poised to get some reinforcements tomorrow when right-hander Fernando Cruz is activated from the injured list. Cruz has been sidelined due to an oblique strain for nearly two months, but the 35-year-old had looked nothing short of excellent over the season’s first half with a 3.00 ERA, 2.48 FIP, and an eye-popping 41.2% strikeout rate in 33 innings of work prior to the injury. If Cruz looks anything like that upon his return, he should be a massive asset to a Yankees bullpen that has struggled somewhat despite the aggressive addition of reinforcements at this summer’s trade deadline. David Bednar, Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, and Camilo Doval have all taken turns in save situations but each has looked shaky of late, leaving plenty of opportunity for Cruz to fashion a key role for himself upon his return.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/yankees-notes-judge-volpe-cruz.html
 
Boone: Yankees Still Consider Volpe Starting Shortstop

Anthony Volpe is out of the lineup as the Yankees open their series against the Nationals. It’s the second straight game in which José Caballero gets the start at shortstop. New York is giving the scuffling Volpe what amounts to a two-day mental reset. However, manager Aaron Boone made clear this evening that the Yankees aren’t moving the third-year infielder to the bench.

“I view Anthony as our shortstop,” Boone told reporters (including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic). The skipper confirmed that Volpe would be back in the lineup tomorrow and continue playing regularly from that point. He added that the Yanks consider Caballero their “10th man” and will keep bouncing him around the diamond in a utility role (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).

Volpe is hitting .208/.274/.400 across 509 plate appearances. He had a productive April but carries a .198/.255/.382 batting line in 96 games since the beginning of May. Volpe has never hit for a high average or reached base at a strong clip. He’s tied with Dansby Swanson for eighth among shortstops with 18 home runs, but he hasn’t been a productive overall hitter. The struggles have magnified over the past six weeks, as he’s batting .171 with a .203 on-base percentage going back to July 1. Among 253 hitters with at least 100 plate appearances in that stretch, only Miami’s Dane Myers has a lower batting average. No one has a worse on-base mark.

The offensive drought is magnified by his uncharacteristic issues on the other side of the ball. Volpe won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023; he was a finalist for that honor last year. He trailed only Swanson and Ezequiel Tovar in combined Defensive Runs Saved among shortstops over those two seasons. Statcast’s Outs Above Average had him tied for seventh. Even with the OBP deficiencies, Volpe’s power and plus defense made him a valuable all-around player. The Yankees presumably felt he was on a similar trajectory as Swanson, an eventual everyday shortstop on a World Series team who received a $177MM free agent contract.

Volpe’s defensive grades have tanked this year as well. DRS has him right around average. Statcast has him five runs below par, tying him for fourth worst at the position. Volpe has committed 17 errors, matching his career high with another month to play. Only Elly De La Cruz (19) has been charged with more this season.

Caballero, acquired from the Rays at the deadline, has gotten out to a fantastic start to his Yankee tenure. He’s hitting .286 with more walks than strikeouts in 15 games. Caballero has stolen six bases in seven tries and is up to an MLB-high 40 steals between Tampa Bay and New York. He led the American League with 44 steals last year, though he was also caught a league leading 16 times. Caballero is a plus runner and versatile defender but is unlikely to remain an above-average hitter over a large sample. He owns a .227/.313/.337 batting line in more than 1000 career plate appearances.

There’s no argument that Caballero hasn’t been the more productive player of late. Still, the 24-year-old Volpe entered the season as New York’s expected franchise shortstop. Caballero is soon to turn 29 and is established as a high-end utility player. The Yankees can still find playing time for him on most days. He’s a right-handed complement to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon at second and third base, respectively. They’re tolerating Giancarlo Stanton in right field for as long as Aaron Judge is unable to throw at game speed, but they’ll frequently kick Caballero into the outfield later in games for defensive purposes.
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/boone-yankees-still-consider-volpe-starting-shortstop.html
 
Jonathan Loáisiga Done For The Year

Yankees right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga has a flexor strain and won’t return this year. However, he is unlikely to require surgery, which perhaps bodes well for next year. Manager Aaron Boone provided the news to reporters including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic and Greg Joyce of The New York Post.

Loáisiga, 30, is a talented pitcher but he has often been held back by injuries. In 2023, he underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow and only pitched 17 2/3 innings that year. In April of 2024, he required internal brace surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow.

He reached free agency and the Yankees decided to sign him for 2025, even though he was still recovering from that surgery at the time. Before all the injuries popped up, Loáisiga had put up some good numbers. Over 2020 and 2021, for instance, he logged 93 2/3 innings with a 2.50 earned run average, 23.8% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 58.4% ground ball rate.

The Yanks were surely hoping that a clean bill of health could get him back to that level but it didn’t play out that way. He was reinstated from the injured list in mid-May but landed back on the IL due to mid-back tightness. He started a rehab assignment shortly thereafter but then suffered the flexor strain which has now ended his season. Around those injuries, he gave the Yankees 29 2/3 innings with a 4.25 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 50.5% ground ball rate.

The Yankees bolstered their bullpen ahead of the deadline by trading for David Bednar and Camilo Doval, adding those two to a group that already included Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and others. They recently welcomed Fernando Cruz back from his own IL stint. The relief corps has a 4.88 ERA in August but there’s lots of talent in there and they have a chance at righting the ship down the stretch and into the postseason. Getting a healthy Loáisiga in there could have helped but that won’t happen now.

The Yankees will have to make a decision about next year. Loáisiga’s $5MM deal came with a $4.5MM salary and $500K signing bonus, plus a $5MM club option for 2026 with no buyout. They were willing to place a $5MM bet on him last offseason but it’s possible his subpar performance this year pushed them away from doing so again. This injury presumably makes it even less likely they trigger the option. But they clearly like the player and he’s unlikely to require surgery, so perhaps they could re-sign him at a different price point.

Boone also relayed, per Kirschner, an update on lefty Ryan Yarbrough. The southpaw will likely be working out of the bullpen when he comes off the IL. He gave the Yanks some good results in a swing role earlier this year, making eight starts and eight relief appearances with a 3.90 ERA. Unfortunately, a right oblique strain put him on the IL in mid-June.

While Yarbrough has been away, Luis Gil returned from his own IL stint to retake a spot in the rotation. Also, Cam Schlittler came up from the minors and has been really good through his first eight starts. The rotation now features those two alongside Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Will Warren.

Yarbrough has been rehabbing lately and has been getting stretched out. His third and most-recent outing saw him toss 4 2/3 innings. But there’s not really a spot for him in the rotation, so the Yankees will seemingly put him in a long relief role. They also have Paul Blackburn doing long relief work and could cut him, though rosters expand in September, which will perhaps allow the club to roster both of them.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images
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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/08/jonathan-loaisiga-done-for-the-year.html
 
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