The Yankees announced Friday that righty Carlos Espinal went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The team had not previously announced that the right-hander was designated for assignment or that he’d been placed on waivers.
Espinal, 25, had his contract selected to the big league roster Monday, 24 hours prior to the trade deadline, and optioned him back to Scranton the following day. He did not get into a game for his Major League debut before being passed through waivers, and is now once again off the 40-man roster. He hasn’t been outrighted previously in his career, so rejecting the assignment in favor of free agency was not an option.
Signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic back in 2015, Espinal has steadily climbed through the Yankees’ minor league ranks and generally posted solid results along the way (an ugly 2021 campaign standing as a notable exception). He’s righted the ship in 2022, however, logging a combined 50 2/3 innings of bullpen work between Double-A and Triple-A while recording a sharp 2.66 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate and an 11.7% walk rate he’d surely like to pare back a ways.
There’s no immediate corresponding move for Espinal’s subtraction from the 40-man roster, so for now, the Yankees sit at 39 players.
If his numbers are so solid, why did he go unclaimed?
That’s a great question.
Surprises me this guy didn’t get claimed.
let the kid play.. hopefully he gets an opportunity down the road
He definitely showed some promise recently so we’ll see if he can continue the success for SWB.
Would love to add Lamet. I suspect one of the teams ahead of the Yankees will claim him. Could the Yankees claim him, put him on the 40 man and then send him to Scranton?
Lamet claimed by the Rockies! Darn!
Never get ride dominican players,,as per David Ortiz