The Yankees announced that infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes has been designated for assignment. That opens an active roster spot for designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported earlier today. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 39.
Reyes, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in the offseason and made the Opening Day roster. He has since served in a reserve role, often as a late-game replacement. He has appeared in 25 games with 34 plate appearances, hitting just .194/.242/.226 in those.
That’s not a great performance but it’s a small sample and it’s tough to maintain quality results with such sporadic action. Him getting the DFA treatment today is more about a fairly crowded Yankee roster. Stanton taking a place in the lineup means that one of Ben Rice or Paul Goldschmidt will be on the bench most days. One of the club’s four outfielders will take up a spot as well. Backup catcher J.C. Escarra will also be on the pine most days.
That left Reyes and fellow infielder Oswald Peraza for the bench spot. Both are out of options and performing poorly at the plate this year but Peraza is several years younger and not too far removed from being a top 100 prospect, so it makes sense to hang onto him in the hopes that there’s still some future value to be extracted there.
Add it all up and it equals Reyes heading into DFA limbo. That can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so the club could take up to five days to explore trades. Reyes passed through waivers in September and then settled for a minor league deal in the offseason. He hasn’t done much to raise his stock since then, so it’s possible he clears waivers yet again. If he does so, he’ll have the right to elect free agency as a player with a previous career outright.
He now has 606 career plate appearances in the majors with a .245/.305/.342 line and 75 wRC+. He’s capable of bouncing all around the diamond, with experience at every position except catcher. That includes five innings of mop-up work on the mound.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Yeah Reyes was all glove and no hit so not surprised. Nice kid though.
Very very predictable. IMO should have been DJL. It’s time for him to go.
DFA the player hitting 108 wRC+ and keep the guy with 32? By far, you give worst take of any Yankees fan here.
mbl: You gotta keep up on your 2025 stats! DJL has been miserable these last few years in between IL stints, but he’s actually hitting this year. Reyes hasn’t fielded well, and his hitting is horrific. I”m sure he’s a nice guy and all, but he’s definitely the guy who had to go.
I think he has talent but he’s not a starter for a contending team and he didn’t have a consistent role as a backup on the Yankees. Hard to perform. Wouldn’t surprise me if he gets picked up and is more productive elsewhere.
Remember Him with the Brewers. Ham and Egger minus due to no hitting. Agree He can play defense!
Had some HR power with the Pirates before suspension.
“Home Run Power” = 8 home runs in 8 seasons
Peraza just needs regular playing time to excel
I think we have enough of a sample size at this point to determine that Peraza isn’t a big league hitter. He can still be a solid bench piece but that’s about it
No soup for you!
Yeah Peraza’s defense is as good as Volpe’s. I agree leave him alone, and put him in the line up everyday and he’ll eventually hit.
There is no metric that indicates Peraza is a better defender than Volpe. He had his chance to be in the every day lineup and didn’t produce. Not an everyday player
Peraza came to camp in 23 out of shape. He blew his shot. He has a better arm (Volpe’s actually kinda fringe for SS) and is a wizard with the glove. He’s shown nothing with the bat though. His upside looks like getting a fresh start somewhere else and being a glove first utility guy or below average starter.
Peraza is a far better defensive then Volpe. Volpe is a better hitter though.
Peraza is only on the 26-man because he’s out of options. He won’t be on the lineup card every day because of Jazz and DJL… and now Stanton.
My dad once got disrespectfully DFA’d by the New Yankees and I’d never sign with them, no matter how much money they offered me.
Rumor has it that most of Yogi Berra’s family are Red Sox fans. But the other half could be Mets fans.
To think, this guy was once suspended for PEDs. Apparently, they didn’t “take”.
Please explain to me why you dfa this guy over that Judge guy who obviously looks to big to be playing baseball.
his only tool is the ability to destroy my sporcle score
Fingers crossed Pablo clears waivers so the Bronx Bombers can stash him in Scranton. He is too valuable a depth piece to lose without some type of compensation.