The Yankees announced that they have claimed right-hander Kaleb Ort off waivers from the Astros. The move was reported by Yankees Never Win prior to the official announcement. Houston recently designated Ort for assignment when they signed Tatsuya Imai. The Yanks had multiple 40-man vacancies and don’t need to make a corresponding move.
Ort, 34 in February, has pitched for the Red Sox and Astros over the past five seasons. He has shown some intriguing stuff but without fully harnessing it for good results. He averages in the upper 90s with his four-seamer while also throwing a cutter, slider and changeup.
Through the end of the 2023 season, he had thrown 51 2/3 innings for the Red Sox with a 6.27 earned run average. Boston put him on waivers in October of 2023 and he bounced around the league that winter, going to the Mariners, Marlins, Phillies and Orioles via waivers or cash deals. Baltimore kept him on optional assignment early in 2024, exhausting Ort’s final option year in the process. They put him in waivers in May of that year, which is when the Astros grabbed him.
He had his best run of major league success with the Astros. After that claim, he gave Houston 22 innings with a 2.55 ERA, 28% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. That impressed the Astros enough that Ort held a roster spot through 2025 despite being out of options, but he couldn’t keep the results at that level. He tossed 46 innings last year with a 4.89 ERA. His 25.3% strikeout rate was still good but he gave out free passes at a 13.9% clip. He spent most of September on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation.
For the Yankees, there’s no real harm in a waiver claim for now. As mentioned, they had multiple open roster spots. Ort still doesn’t have enough service time to have qualified for arbitration. They can bring him into camp to compete for a bullpen spot.
It’s also possible they put him back on waivers later, after they make more moves and fill out the roster. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, they could keep him in a non-roster capacity. Ort doesn’t have a previous career outright and is shy of three years of service time, meaning he doesn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images
Championship!
Ha! good luck
Cashman’s BIG move of the off season. Did Hal approve of the expenditure???
Dude had one good season, but hey you never know.
No he didn’t. This guy gives up home runs at a faster rate than a beer league softball has been.
2024 was a good season.
Ya Ort not to do that. UmHmm umhmm..figure I’ll have me some them French fried potaters.
Kaleb Ort was the guy the Red Sox used to call in when they were behind by 5 runs and needed to be behind by 9 runs to make the run line.
Sox fans rejoice over bOrt joining their nemesis. Dude is like hats for bats – keep bats warm.
why are they always a group commenting in yankee articles… these orbiters from other team’s fans are sad
Because a lot of people hate the Yankees. Myself included.
Someday you may feel the warmth of being welcomed into a group. Keep your spirits up!
no collective hive-mind for me. Too bad there are ppl who define themselves as fans by who they hate seemingly more than who they root for. More emotional investment into irrationally hating a team is pitiful.
LoL… You enjoy haters warmth, that’s weak.
sometimes, that’s all some ppl have- the warmth of a 2 watt bulb
They think they’re being clever saying stuff like ” championship” . Without realizing every team makes depth moves. And you just sound like a moron
Yankees articles? More like BASEBALL articles. Just dudes talking baseball, dude.
Kale abort.
Enjoy your time with the Bronx.
They’ll milk him for Astro intel then release him
Two bangs means slider, four means fastball, five means I forgot the code
Pathetic
Out of options so could be another spin on the roster wheel coming for Kaleb.
Yanks seem to like bringing back guys from their system in the past.
Ort license plates back in stock.
The final piece in the Yankees push to a championship!
Gas can.
Enjoy all your lead off walks and inherited runners scoring.
Now this takes them out of the running for Bellinger.
Yankees Never Win is an odd site to source. Little substance X account with George Floyd as the picture.
If it did the work, it gets the citation, right?
Former Red Sox legend!
Another dollar store pickup,
This should put them over the top, LOL
That’s an Ort for Ort’s sake move.
Strange there is no mention of how Ort used to be a Yankees farmhand
It is a nightmare !!
I was hoping someone would eventually take these unappreciated pallets of Kaleb Ort for Cy Young jerseys, mugs and beer koozies off my hands. Now might be the time to strike
I also have some Kaleb Oort Clouds, and some Duane Kuiper Belts to sell, cheap.
Injecting some Astronomy in there, I like it.
Spaceman Lee and Rocket Clemens were making out in the Sox dugout.
This was reported by Yankees never win which seems appropriate for this transaction and nearly the last 20 years.
They pulled him out of the Ort Cloud. (I love astronomy)
Former longtime Yankees farmhand.
They know him and his stuff pretty well, I would guess.
Another day, another minor league signing.