In between games of New York’s double-header with the Guardians today, the Yankees announced a series of roster moves. Utilityman Jon Berti has been placed (retroactive to April 11) on the 10-day injured list due to a left groin strain, and left-hander Josh Maciejewski was also designated for assignment. Right-hander Ron Marinaccio and infielder Kevin Smith have been called up from Triple-A to take the two open roster spots, and in Smith’s case, his minors deal with the team was replaced with a new Major League contract before being selected. Left-hander Clayton Andrews was outrighted to Triple-A, while right-hander McKinley Moore was activated from the 15-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A.
Speaking with the YES Network (X link), manager Aaron Boone indicated that Berti’s injury occurred in his most recent at-bat, when Berti beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 5-2 New York loss to Miami. While the manager didn’t put a timeline on Berti’s potential return, Boone also didn’t think the issue was overly serious.
Berti was acquired as part of a three-team trade with the Marlins and Rays just prior to Opening Day, and the veteran has been splitting third base duties with Oswaldo Cabrera while DJ LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza have been sidelined with injuries. Cabrera is off to a scorching start at the plate, but Berti has slashed only .211/.250/.211 over his first 21 plate appearances in the pinstripes. While Smith can continue acting as a veteran counterpart to Cabrera, Boone said he has “a lot” of confidence that Cabrera can keep producing with a larger share of the playing time with Berti sidelined.
Maciejewski’s contract was selected from Triple-A earlier this week, and the 28-year-old officially became a big leaguer after throwing a perfect inning in last Monday’s 7-0 win over the Marlins. With his MLB debut behind him, Maciejewski now heads to the DFA wire as part of the roster churn at the back of the Yankees’ bullpen.
There’s a chance that a team in need of multi-inning bullpen help or even swingman help could put in a claim on Maciejewski, who has a 3.52 ERA over 294 1/3 innings (starting 31 of 101 games) in his minor league career. A 10th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2018 draft, Maciejewski has had limited success at the Triple-A level, with a 4.87 ERA in 61 frames with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In selecting Maciejewski, the Yankees designated Andrews, and the southpaw will remain in the organization after clearing DFA waivers. Andrews made his Major League debut in the form of four appearances and 3 1/3 innings with the Brewers last season, and he joined the Yankees in a minor league trade in February after posting a 2.53 ERA over 57 innings for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in 2023. Control problems have limited Andrews’ effectiveness throughout his six minor league seasons, but Andrews has struggled badly in a small sample size this year — the lefty has a 14.73 ERA and six walks over just 3 2/3 innings at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
I’ve seen supermodels and professional dancers that can play thru injury better than most Major League baseball players. If their salary was based on games played or actual production, you’d certainly see a lot more healthy professional baseball players.
Cool story bro.
The constant utter nonsense from this guy is astounding.
It’s not the players who make the IL decisions, it’s management.
Most players want to play.
Lars that’s a great point. I think management has so much money in these guys that they don’t want to risk making anything small into something big.
@James…Yeah. I’m sure management is fine with paying Carlos Correa/Anthony Rendon/Kris Bryant and others to just sit in the whirlpool, get daily massages and rehab. Both Minnesota & Colorado expected Bryant/Correa to be the face of their teams, lead their teams and help sell tickets and they’re usually doing neither. History has shown us that if players want(demand if necessary)to play they will play.
My wife was a Ballerina in a well known company. In her 20’s , man the pain she had to dance thru. They were whipped lol
No excuses.
Soooo because you’re wife isn’t intelligent other people should follow suite?
Reading comprehension not your strong suit ?
That was absolutely wrong!
No idea what you’re talking about. Try playing 12 MLB games in 10 days and you’d be cursing your own mother for giving you birth.
Berti is a solid bench and platoon player, but I wonder if his future with the Yankees will last even one more month. Cabrera continues to mash and LeMahieu will return some point in May.
I’m not sure why he’s been starting over Cabrera. Cabrera has been awesome this year.
Likely they believe Cabrera is weak batting righty, so they were moving to a straight platoon. That would still give him nearly 2/3rds of the starts. We’ll probably see that continue when LeMahieu returns. The Marlins started three straight lefties against the Yankees. I probably would have started Cabrera in one of those games to see if he’s improving batting righty too, but I understand why they were playing Bertie. Looking forward though, not sure I see an easy fit for Bertie once DJLM and Peraza return.
There’s zero chance they dump/trade Berti. You can see Kevin Smith is behind him. What would they do if Gleyber or Volpe got hurt?
“There’s zero chance”..And plus, everyone knows D.J Lamaheieu is in his injury decline years and really cannot be counted on to play a significant role.
Watching Kevin Smith bat is painful…but at least he’s a bench player this year. Last year he would’ve been a four-hole hitter!
You’re underestimating him Clipper, definitely two hole!
I saw enough of him with the A’s – who gave him every chance to succeed – to know this guy just isn’t gonna start hitting any time soon.
Trevor Bauer is available
Too bad he sucks without sticky stuff.
Nonsense alert
Dick Rider alert
Lots of washed up pitchers are available. Most of them are also not horrible humans that nobody wants around their clubhouse.
Wow, this seems like such a Cop Out. What even is the Dogma of this team? It’s enough to make Jersey Girl Clerks become a Mets fan. I get it Mets, Yankees, Red State, Blue State, but still…
I have never seen a team DFA more players than the Yankees
Honest question have you paid close attention to other teams transactions? I feel roster churn has accelerated in general the last 5 years or so.
“Has accelerated in general”…In my mind there’s no doubt about that. 5-6 years ago, I knew the names and profiles of 95% of the players involved in transactions and today I know about 45% of the players involved in transactions. MLB has been on a rather dramatic youth movement and today it’s not uncommon to see players who were drafted less than 2 yrs ago in the Major Leagues. And in some cases, players who were drafted mere months ago.
Yes, I agree with you. Ryan Weber was DFA’d 23 times last year..
The part that is so striking is it has become commonplace for teams to claim a player, call him up, he makes one appearance (good or bad – makes no difference), and then is immediately DFAd.
The MLB rule that allows teams to carry only 13 pitchers creates these roster moves. Short outings by starters wears out bull pens and causes teams to have to DFA a player that is out of options because they need a fresh arm to get through a series or sometimes even a single game.
People are complaining about the Mets doing it as well. It’s what happens when you have players without minor league options left.
It’s typically either AAAA relievers or poor hitting middle infielders, as these players are a dime a dozen and easily replaced. The reason for doing it is to expand your 40 man roster.
While the manager didn’t put a timeline on Berti’s potential return, Dr. Boonedoggle also didn’t think the issue was overly serious.
Dr. Boone is the world’s foremost injury spin doctor. Much of his most notable diagnoses are now being taught in medical “skool”.
Huh?
I want Caleb Durbin in the show. He’s putting up little league numbers and looks like the second coming of Dustin Pedroia. Speed, never strikes out, gets on base.
He looked pretty good in ST.
He’s not on the 40 man roster; so if they add him this year, it would probably be if Gleyber were hurt and they could give him an extended look.
He’s not hitting like he did in Miami. So they are going to try someone else.
There’s no reason to play anyone else but Oswaldo Cabrera at 3B. He’s a switch hitter and playing well. Let him get accustomed to the position.