The Yankees announced that they have signed right-hander Paul Blackburn, with fellow righty Allan Winans optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the corresponding move. The Yanks have had an open 40-man spot since JT Brubaker was designated for assignment earlier this month. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe first noted that Blackburn was in the Yankee clubhouse. Blackburn tells Chris Kirschner of The Athletic that he expects to work out of the bullpen.
Blackburn has been having an injury-marred season but he is currently healthy and stretched out. About a month ago, he started a rehab assignment while on the Mets’ injured list due to a shoulder impingement. From July 22nd to August 8th, he made four rehab appearances, each lasting at least five innings. He didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of them.
The Mets didn’t really have a rotation spot for him, so they reinstated him from the IL and put him in the bullpen. On August 13th, he tossed five innings of long relief against Atlanta, allowing two earned runs. Despite that generally solid run of results, the Mets designated Blackburn for assignment when they promoted prospect Nolan McLean on Saturday. Blackburn then cleared release waivers, allowing him to sign this deal with the Yankees.
Since he has been released, that also means he is essentially free for the Yanks. The Mets remain on the hook for the majority of his salary. The Yankees only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for the time he spends on the roster. That amount will be subtracted from what the Mets pay.
The Yankees currently have a rotation consisting of Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Will Warren and Cam Schlittler, so Blackburn will slide into a long relief role. Though he’s been hurt for most of 2025 and has a 6.85 earned run average, he has past major league success. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed a combined 290 1/3 innings with a 4.43 earned run average, 20.2% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. As mentioned, he’s been getting decent results lately and is cheap.
Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images
Yawn.
Assistant equipment manager?
Assistant to the traveling secretary.
Is this really an upgrade from Brubaker?
“Really an upgrade”…Not all players acquired are meant to be “upgrades”. Some are meant to be healthy mop up duty pitchers or “save a taxed bullpen” pitchers.
Who do you think will pitch if the Yankees are trailing by four runs entering the 7th inning tomorrow?
I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape, because Blackburn will never take the mound, in a truly high leverage, high impact situation.
Why would we sign this guy? He is terrible, look at his last 5 outings!
LMAO!!!! SADLY. I’d rather have Stroman. Can they call up Ben Hess??? Who else is the minors can be useful??
I follow the yankees minor league system, but is hess a starter? Or could they possibly use him as a reliever? He seems like he has talent. Is it too soon to call up a 2024 pick?
Expecting garbarge’ time with Boston?
Crashman hitting the accelerator while Baboone steers the franchise into a wall. All the while, Crashman mumbles something about trusting the process and Baboone claims, as he so often does, “It’s right in front of us.”
This is one of the Brian Cashman moves of all-time.
This is the problem with the Yankees and possibly most teams. They get rid of Brubaker because he’s out of options, and roster is full. Now they need him and he’s gone. That’s why JC the catcher is the Yo Yo of the month because he’s the only one with options. Something needs to be done. Increase roster or increase number of players options.
Montas > Blackburn
All the knee-jerk reactions! The Yankees are beginning a stretch of 11 days with no days off. They need a mop-up guy who can go multiple innings. Expect Blackburn to be DFA’d in a about a week or two.
So they get rid of brubaker just to get a worse long reliever. Really? Stroman is better. This is tough to say, but jake bird might even better. Winans wasn’t great but better than this guy. We will see…
Brubaker was DFA’d due to the relievers acquired at the trade deadline.