The Yankees have claimed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Braves, according to announcements from both clubs. The Yanks optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and transferred Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding 40-man move.
There was no previous indication that Atlanta had designated De La Cruz for assignment, but it appears they quietly put him on waivers in recent days in an attempt to get him off the 40-man. It didn’t work, with the Yanks scooping him up. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count drops from 39 to 38.
Atlanta signed BDLC to their roster in the offseason and he started the season in the majors with the Atlanta outfield in flux this year. Ronald Acuña Jr. is still working back from last year’s ACL tear. Jurickson Profar tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug early in the season and received an 80-game suspension. The club signed Alex Verdugo to help out but that deal got done so late that Verdugo had to start the season on optional assignment as a sort of delayed spring training.
De La Cruz got 50 plate appearances with Atlanta but was punched out in 36% of them as he produced a dismal .191/.240/.213 line. He was optioned down to Triple-A Gwinnett when Verdugo was ready to join the big league club. The team later signed Eddie Rosario and optioned Jarred Kelenic. With Acuña slated to be back in the next month or so and Kelenic available in Triple-A, De La Cruz didn’t have great odds of getting back to the majors, which is surely what prompted the club to push him onto the waiver wire.
For the Yankees, they effectively had an open roster spot. Stanton has been on the 10-day injured list all year due to problems in both elbows. He has been trying to get healthy but still isn’t ready for game action. Even once cleared to get into a lineup somewhere, he will need a rehab assignment of a few weeks to get into game shape. His 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he will be eligible to be reinstated later this month if he’s able to get healthy by then.
For now, they have used Stanton’s roster spot to add some extra outfield depth. Their big league outfield group is currently strong, consisting of Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Jasson Domínguez. But De La Cruz has options and there’s little harm in stashing him in Triple-A to see how things go.
As mentioned, his 2025 is out to a brutal start, but he’s been better in the past. He stepped to the plate 574 times for the Marlins over 2021 and 2022 with a combined .269/.318/.430 line and 103 wRC+ over those seasons. However, a .333 batting average on balls in play helped him out a lot there and his production has tailed off since. Since the start of 2023, he has a .243/.285/.390 line and 81 wRC+. Strikeouts have become a growing problem, with a 28% rate of punchouts since the start of 2024.
Even as he was struggling last year, he was still able to be useful in a platoon setting. A right-handed hitter, he put up a .285/.309/.425 line and 99 wRC+ versus lefties, so perhaps that is part of the appeal. Grisham and Bellinger are both lefties, though Grisham has reverse splits in his career. Domínguez is a switch-hitter but has been vulnerable to southpaws so far. He has a .277/.353/.529 line against righties but just .100/.239/.150 against lefties.
For now, De La Cruz can get regular playing time with the RailRiders and try to get in a good groove. If he succeeds or if the Yankees suffer an injury, he could get find himself getting another crack at the majors.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Quietly…hahaha!!!
Does MLB not announce or have a list of who has been DFA’d? Visible to the public, that is.
Two things:
1. The DFA itself is a team-internal thing, ushering a player off the 40-man roster but not necessarily subjecting him to claims by other teams. What you’re interested in would be a public listing of who is on waivers. However…
2. The waiver wire is not public.
The term “quietly” was a bit confusing. Every team knows who is on waivers even if the public does not
I think it’s in reference to the fact that it wasn’t reported (as many DFA/waiver moves for MLB players end up being).
AAA depth.
Whoever had Trent Grisham out hitting Cody Bellinger in every single way by may 1st in their office pool must be cleaning up right now
Surprising move. The Braves need the OF depth. He was at least an MLB-level bat with thump. The Braves should’ve DFA’d Kelnic when Verdugo came on board and kept de la Cruz. I feel White’s recent elevated play is fool’s gold.
Braves don’t need OF depth. Acuña coming back soon and Profar the end of June. A bit crowded actually. Where the Braves are short is pitching depth! Not sure why it was so imperative to open up another 40 man roster spot though. They’re down to 38 now.
Well, one of those spots will be used on this week’s re-signing of Jessie Chavez.
Braves thought they could get a .191 batter with a 36% K rate past Brian Cashman?! Not in a million years.
Hey, he can’t be much worse than Pablo Reyes
Too bad Bryan De la Cruz isn’t a pitcher. We could’ve had a good dumpster diving fight between Brian Cashman and Jed Hoyer!
Lifetime WAR under 0
Like trying to sneak cheese past a rat!
Dominguez has been pretty bad too…might need a refresher in AAA. If BDLC is hitting and Dominguez isn’t, a swap would make sense. Yankees always need more right-handed offense anyway.
The infield has to be the main concern right now though. 3B was already barren, Jazz is out, and Volpe (who has been decent the last few games) can’t really be relied upon for much offense.
Us Yankee fans have had just about enough of Dominguez and Bellinger. though we have more patience for the latter. Dominguez seems to have little value.
Not this Yankees fan. He won’t improve riding the pines. It’s only May 1st. Let the kid play.
I’m happy to know tbat the Braves stopped wasting a 40 man spot for De La Cruz. He was terrible in Atlanta and in Gwinnett. Once Acuna gets back, the Braves will finally have a good outfield along with Harris, Verdugo and White. Certainly need at least 4 good outfielders to get thru the season
The assumption is Acuna will not have a set back, and all other OFs remain healthy. That’s not a sure thing. Nothing wrong with depth.
Since there’s nowhere else to put this and this is technically a Yankees article…
Juan Soto has been awful so far as a Met and while I do think, like many say, he is in his own head and pressing and not just relying on his natural skillset- he’s obviously putting extra pressure on himself due to the overall size of the deal and his AAV…. but that said….
If you look at his career stats and season over season production- besides being a relatively young free agent, which would kind of justify contract length, why would you overpay him by $10M+ per year?
If you look at his overall production and WAR etc. Judge’s average is 8.8 and Soto’s average is 6.2; Judge consistently worth about 8.5-11.5 WAR over full, regular, healthy seasons and thus is truly a 10 WAR player who makes $40M per season, shouldn’t Soto, who is consistently ‘healthy’ and yet his best WAR is about 8…. shouldn’t he be worth about 20% less a year than Judge?
Shouldn’t Soto’s deal have been for like, $39M per year AAV (accounting for contract length, inflation, artificial league salary inflation, etc.) as opposed to $51M per year?
I really do think if Soto was making like $41M per season instead of $51M, he wouldn’t be pressing so hard to live up to the insane price tag…. also at his most locked in and best, healthiest self, Soto is worth less than $40M per season if Judge is worth $40M per season.