Headlines

  • Albert Pujols To Interview For Angels’ Managerial Vacancy, May Be “Leading Choice”
  • Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM
  • Brian Snitker Will Not Return As Braves’ Manager In 2026
  • Angels To Have New Manager In 2026
  • Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed
  • Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Yankees Sign Joel Kuhnel To Minors Deal

By Darragh McDonald | July 4, 2025 at 10:24pm CDT

The Yankees announced today that right-hander Geoff Hartlieb elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Because he has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject all future outright assignments. The Yankees also added an arm, signing right-hander Joel Kuhnel to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was with the Phillies on a minor league deal but was released yesterday.

Hartlieb, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in the offseason. He was selected to the roster on Monday and designated for assignment on Wednesday. In between, he tossed one inning against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on two hits and three walks while striking out three. He is out of options so the Yankees effectively had to designate him for assignment in order to remove him from active roster while making space for a fresh arm.

That was a rough outing but he was in good form in the minors prior to getting called up. He tossed 35 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 3.34 earned run average, 26.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 41.3% ground ball rate.

He also has some previous big league work on his résumé, though it’s not especially sparkling, as he has a 7.62 ERA in 80 1/3 innings. His 48% ground ball rate is strong but his 20.3% strikeout rate and 14.9% walk rate are both subpar figures, particularly the latter. He’ll head to the open market and see what kind of opportunities are out there for him.

Kuhnel, 30, may have triggered an opt-out provision in his deal with the Phils because he has been putting up good numbers this year. In 32 1/3 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he had a 3.62 ERA. His 20.6% strikeout rate was a bit below average but his 3.1% walk rate was tiny and he got ground balls on a huge 66.3% of balls in play.

That’s generally been Kuhnel’s recipe. In 93 2/3 big league innings in his career, he has only struck out 18.7% of batters faced but has limited walks to a 5.9% pace and gotten opponents to pound the ball into the ground at a 52% clip. That’s led to a 5.86 ERA but his .311 batting average on balls in play and 63.8% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side. His 4.46 FIP and 3.77 SIERA paint him in a more favorable light.

The Yankees love groundballers and, as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. Kuhnel has been assigned to the RailRiders and will try to work his way onto the big league roster.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Share Repost Send via email

New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies Transactions Geoff Hartlieb Joel Kuhnel

Red Sox Notes: Anthony, Yoshida, Bregman
Main
Cubs Sign Ryan Jensen To Minor League Deal
View Comments (4)
Post a Comment

4 Comments

  1. Charlesm 2025

    3 months ago

    Hartlieb deserved a longer look with the Yankees.

    Reply
  2. Ok Yankees Fan

    3 months ago

    Garbage in, garbage out yet again

    1
    Reply
  3. emt126

    3 months ago

    I feel so bad for Aaron Judge. He is on an island, with no chance for rescue with this Manager and GM.

    2
    Reply
  4. dasit

    3 months ago

    with the churn rate of the yankee bullpen we’ll see him very soon

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Albert Pujols To Interview For Angels’ Managerial Vacancy, May Be “Leading Choice”

    Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM

    Brian Snitker Will Not Return As Braves’ Manager In 2026

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

    Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

    Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid “Financial Uncertainty”

    Liam Hendriks Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

    Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli

    Giants Fire Bob Melvin

    Pirates Sign Manager Don Kelly To Extension

    Pete Alonso To Opt Out Of Mets Contract, Enter Free Agency

    Padres Place Ramón Laureano On Injured List Due To Finger Fracture

    Willson Contreras Will Consider Waiving No-Trade Clause But Prefers To Remain With Cardinals

    Cade Horton To Miss At Least One Playoff Series Due To Rib Fracture

    MLB To Take Over Mariners’ Broadcasts In 2026

    Nolan Arenado More Open To Waiving No-Trade Clause As Cardinals Plan To Rebuild

    Sonny Gray Will Consider Waiving No-Trade Clause This Offseason

    Nationals To Hire Paul Toboni As President Of Baseball Operations

    Astros’ Luis Garcia Will Miss 2026 Season Due To Elbow Surgery

    Recent

    The Opener: Division Series, Rangers, Angels

    Report: Cardinals Ownership More Willing To Include Money In Trades

    The Marlins’ Catching Conundrum

    David Ross Hoping For Another Managerial Opportunity

    Orioles Re-Sign Jose Barrero To Minor League Deal

    Jarred Kelenic, Three Others Elect Free Agency

    Mets Notes: Alonso, Marte, Manaea

    Mariners Notes: Woo, ALDS Roster, Raleigh

    Blue Jays Notes: Bichette, Bassitt, France, Berrios

    Diamondbacks Notes: Gallen, Kelly, Rotation, First Base

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Tim Dierkes' MLB Mailbag
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version