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Dominic Smith Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Yankees

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Dominic Smith has become a free agent after triggering the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Yankees, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  Smith wasn’t an Article XX(b) free agent with a built-in June 1 opt-out date in any minor league contract, but his deal still apparently contained some opt-out flexibility if he hadn’t been called up to New York’s active roster.

This is the second time in three months that Smith has opted out of a minors deal with the Yankees, as he also opted out of his initial contract near the end of Spring Training but re-signed with the club just after Opening Day.  Smith has since been playing at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, hitting .255/.333/.448 with eight home runs over 189 plate appearances.  Smith has primarily been a left fielder, with a good chunk of playing time at first base and DH and a handful of games in right field.

Despite his decent numbers and his defensive flexibility, it isn’t hard to understand why the Yankees haven’t felt the need to bring Smith to the majors.  Even with Giancarlo Stanton missing the entire season to date, Ben Rice capably stepped into the regular DH role, and Paul Goldschmidt has been excellent at first base.  The outfield picture is also crowded between Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Jasson Dominguez, and Trent Grisham surging into more playing time than expected due to some unexpectedly big production at the plate.  With Stanton slowly working his way back to good health, the situation will only get more crowded in the Bronx barring future injuries, so another new contract might not be in the cards for Smith if he wants a clearer path to Major League playing time.

A former top prospect and near-breakout star during his time with the Mets from 2017-22, Smith’s production has tailed off and he has become something of a journeyman since leaving Queens.  Smith has been a part of six different organizations since January 2023, and has hit .247/.321/.370 over 893 PA with the Nationals, Red Sox, and Reds.

Yankees Select Carlos Carrasco; Jake Woodford Triggers Opt Out

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3:29PM: Right-hander Yerry De los Santos was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move for Carrasco, the Yankees announced.

12:56PM: Right-hander Jake Woodford has opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees and become a free agent, according to a report from MLBTR’s Steve Adams. In addition, Jack Curry of YES Network reports that the Yankees are selecting the contract of right-hander Carlos Carrasco from Triple-A Scranton and that he’ll be active ahead of tonight’s game against the Dodgers. A corresponding 40-man move won’t be necessary as the Yankees have multiple spots available, but room will need to be made for Carrasco on the active roster.

The 28-year-old Woodford was a first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2015 who made his major league debut during the shortened 2020 campaign. That rookie campaign didn’t go especially well as he posted a 5.57 ERA in a multi-inning relief role, but he did enjoy stronger seasons in 2021 and ’22. Across those two years, Woodford pitched to a 3.26 ERA (121 ERA+) with a 3.93 FIP in 116 frames. He struck out just 15.4% of opponents faced during that time against a 7.5% walk rate, though he made up for his lack of strikeout stuff and pinpoint command in part thanks to a strong 45.8% groundball rate. His lack of strikeouts caught up to him after that, however, as he posted a lackluster 6.23 ERA with a 6.61 FIP over 47 2/3 innings of work in 2023 before being non-tendered by the Cardinals that November.

Since then, Woodford has been bouncing around the league as a journeyman. The 2024 season saw him split time between the White Sox and the Pirates, for whom he pitched to a 7.97 ERA overall across 35 innings of work with a 4.94 FIP while in the majors. At the Triple-A level, the right-hander posted a solid enough 3.93 ERA across 94 innings. His results weren’t enough for him to keep a roster spot with the Pirates over the offseason, but after he was designated for assignment he elected free agency and found a minor league deal with the Rockies during the winter. Woodford was granted his release by the Rockies prior to Opening Day when he didn’t break camp with the club and then latched on with the Yankees, for whom he’s posted a 4.54 ERA in 39 2/3 innings of Triple-A work.

It seemed possible that Woodford’s time to return to the majors had come when the Yankees were forced to use seven pitchers in last night’s blowout loss to the Dodgers, but the righty triggered his opt out clause and will now return to free agency after the Yankees decided to turn to Carrasco instead. It will be the 38-year-old’s second stint with the Yankees this season. The right-hander made the Opening Day roster after a number of injuries left the Yanks with questions in their rotation, but Carrasco is far removed from his days as a mid-rotation arm in Cleveland at this point and surrendered a 5.91 ERA and 5.30 FIP across 32 innings of work with the Bronx earlier this year. Despite those lackluster numbers, Carrasco is a good bet to offer volume at a time where the Yankees bullpen is sure to be gassed, and he’s been universally hailed over his 16 seasons in the majors as a fantastic clubhouse presence.

The Yankees’ Outfielders Raising Their Free Agent Stocks

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For the second straight season, the Yankees have the best outfield in baseball. Having the best hitter on the planet is an excellent starting point. This level of dominance can't all come from Aaron Judge, though. Last season, Juan Soto paired with Judge as an all-time 1-2 offensive punch. It seemed almost impossible for the outfield to match last year's .266/.377/.516 line after losing Soto to free agency.

They've instead improved upon that monster production through this season's first two months. Yankee outfielders carry a .293/.380/.533 slash. They lead MLB with 37 home runs and trail only the Cubs with 113 runs batted in. They're handily above the rest of the league in all three slash stats. The Cubs are the only team that is particularly close in terms of FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement.

Judge somehow elevating from a .322/.458/.701 performance is the biggest factor. Yet the Yankees have largely offset the loss of production from Soto -- at least so far -- by not having anyone close to last season's weak link, Alex Verdugo. That's a testament mostly to Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, each of whom have gotten out to excellent starts. (Jasson Domínguez has decent numbers overall as well, though most of that comes from a three-homer barrage in Sacramento on May 9.) The early paces from Bellinger and Grisham provide the Yankees needed lineup depth around Judge and Paul Goldschmidt. They're also significant factors for what looks to be a shallow upcoming free agent class behind Kyle Tucker.

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Yankees Likely To Move Jazz Chisholm Back To Third Base

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Jazz Chisholm Jr. began a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset this evening. It’s the switch-hitting infielder’s first game action since he sustained a right oblique strain last month. Chisholm started the game at third base. He played five innings and took four plate appearances before being lifted for a planned mid-game substitution.

The positional assignment is the most interesting aspect. Manager Aaron Boone told the Yankees beat on Wednesday night that the team was considering using Chisholm as a third baseman once he returns from the injured list (relayed by Greg Joyce of The New York Post). After today’s rehab game, Chisholm indicated that’s indeed likely to be the plan (video provided by SNY).

“That’s what I’ve heard so far,” he replied when asked if he expects to be a full-time third baseman. “(Boone) gave me the choice, but he told me that he really wanted me at third base. I’m a team guy. I’m here to win a ring. I’m not here to fight over positions and all that.”

Chisholm has played exclusively second base this year. He started 29 games at the keystone through the end of April. DJ LeMahieu was on the IL for that entire time. Oswaldo Cabrera was playing regularly at the hot corner. Of course, the picture has changed in the past few weeks. LeMahieu is back and has moved to second base. Cabrera suffered a gruesome ankle fracture that’ll almost certainly end his season. Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas (to a lesser extent) have covered third base since Cabrera’s injury.

Neither Peraza nor Vivas has provided anything offensively. Chisholm was only hitting .181 before his injury, but he’d connected on seven home runs while drawing walks at a strong 12% clip. He should be a significant upgrade relative to the Peraza/Vivas pairing overall. LeMahieu is out to a .184/.244/.263 start through his first 12 games. It’s an inauspicious follow-up to last year’s .204/.269/.259 showing, but the Yankees seem likely to give him a little more leash over the next few weeks. They apparently prefer for LeMahieu to remain on the right side of the infield as he tries to get his bat on track.

This is the second time that Chisholm has kicked from second to third base during his Yankees tenure. He made the move after last summer’s deadline trade. That was in deference to Gleyber Torres (and came after New York’s incumbent second baseman indicated he wasn’t interested in a position change. Chisholm committed seven errors in 400 1/3 innings during his first MLB action at the hot corner). He graded a couple runs below average by Defensive Runs Saved but Statcast credited him with four runs above par.

The move could also have implications for New York’s deadline approach. Infield help would be a logical area for the front office to target this summer — especially if LeMahieu doesn’t pick things up. Chisholm could presumably move back to second if they acquire a third baseman, but they could also look for a direct upgrade at second base. The position has been down overall, but Brandon Lowe, Luis Urías and old friend Thairo Estrada (who is currently rehabbing a wrist fracture) are among potential deadline trade candidates.

Yankees Reportedly Interested In Right-Handed Bat, Rotation Help

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The Yankees are “aggressively” searching for a right-handed bat to add to their lineup, according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale adds that the club would “ideally” like that bat to be a third baseman, and goes on to suggest that the club is also interested in adding a starting pitcher.

The Yankees are off to a solid start this season, with a 30-21 record that puts them in the driver’s seat for not only the AL East but also a bye through the Wild Card round of the playoffs as things currently stand. Even so, that’s not to say the club is without flaws. Reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge anchors the club’s lineup, and with a .315/.439/.683 slash line dating all the way back to the start of the 2022 campaign it’s hard to imagine him slowing down any time soon. Standout performances from Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe to this point in the year appear to be largely sustainable, and despite questions about Cody Bellinger’s slow start, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s injury woes, Paul Goldschmidt’s elevated BABIP and the sustainability of hot starts for Trent Grisham and Ben Rice, that collective group seems likely to allow the club to continue producing at a high level at the plate.

If there’s a substantial question mark in the club’s lineup, however, it’s on the infield. Chisholm should be able to hold down the fort at second base when he eventually returns from the injured list, but Oswaldo Cabrera was hitting at a below average level at third base even before his likely season-ending ankle injury. DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, and Jorbit Vivas are currently mixing and matching around the infield with Chisholm on the shelf, but adding a right-handed bat to the mix who’s more reliable than LeMahieu (52 wRC+ in 2024) and Peraza (career 73 wRC+) would go a long way to solidifying the club’s offense.

Right-handed bats who can play the infield seem likely to be relatively few and far between on this offseason’s market, however. Perhaps Otto Lopez of the Marlins, Lenyn Sosa of the White Sox, or Amed Rosario of the Nationals could make some sense, but there aren’t a lot of obvious fits on clear sellers at the moment, especially if the Orioles aren’t interested in trading controllable pieces within the division. Plenty of teams could still plausibly fall out of contention before the trade deadline, but with two months to go until then the Yankees will need to wait a lot longer if they’re going to find an upgrade with a club like the Cardinals or Rangers that’s currently on the bubble of contention.

Fortunately, it’s a lot less difficult to find viable pitching help. The Yankees are relying on rookie Will Warren and journeyman Ryan Yarbrough in the rotation as things currently stand, so an ace pitcher won’t be necessary to upgrade the rotation. Sandy Alcantara remains one of the names getting the most buzz despite his struggles with Miami this year, but even someone like White Sox righty Adrian Houser could help raise the floor in the Yankees’ rotation and offer some depth while the club waits for arms like Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman to get healthy.

Of course, even in those cases it’s still early enough in the season that any sort of substantial trade is unlikely. The calendar hasn’t even flipped to June yet, and for the time being clubs looking for external solutions are typically best off scouring the waiver wire for potential additions to the roster given how rare blockbuster deals are this time of year. Orlando Arcia and Kevin Pillar are two right-handed hitters who have been let go by their organizations in recent days, while Kyle Gibson and Sean Newcomb are among the potential starting options who have recently been let go just within the Yankees’ own division.

Cooper Hummel Granted Release By Yankees

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May 24: The Yankees opted not to promote Hummel and granted him his release, reports Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. He’s again a free agent.

May 22: Utility player Cooper Hummel has triggered a release clause in his minor league deal with the Yankees, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Triggering the clause gives the Yanks 72 hours to decide on whether to add Hummel to their roster, trade him or release him. Since he triggered the clause yesterday (Wednesday), the team will need to make their decision by some time on Saturday.

Hummel, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Yanks in April. He started the season on the Astros’ roster but came into this year out of options. He hit .316/.435/.447 during spring training but the Astros decided not to carry him on the Opening Day roster. He was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and elected free agency. That freed up him to sign with the Yankees.

He played in just three Triple-A games before landing on the minor league injured list with an unknown issue. He was reinstated from the IL on May 10th and has since appeared in seven more contests.

That doesn’t give the Yanks much to go on but Hummel has an impressive minor league track record on the whole. He has stepped to the plate 1,460 times at the Triple-A level from 2021 to the present with a 17.6% walk rate and 20.8% strikeout rate. His combined line of .284/.419/.475 translates to a 132 wRC+. He has done that while bouncing around the diamond, suiting up at catcher and the four corner positions. He also notched double-digit steal totals in both 2023 and 2024.

Despite doing all that fun stuff in the minors, he has only 235 major league plate appearances, most of which were with the Diamondbacks back in 2022. His .159/.255/.275 line in the majors is obviously far less enticing than his work on the farm.

The next few days will provide some clarity on whether the Yankees or any other club are willing to give Hummel some major league time. As mentioned, he is out of options but he also has just one year and three days of service time at the moment. That means he wouldn’t get to the two-year mark even if he were called up today. The Yanks or some other club could therefore keep him in the majors for the rest of this season and still have five seasons of club control after that.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Tyler Matzek Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Tyler Matzek passed through waivers unclaimed and rejected an outright assignment to the minor leagues, the Yankees announced Monday. He’ll instead elect to become a free agent and explore new opportunities with other clubs (as well as a potential reunion with the Yankees on a new minor league deal).

Matzek, 34, pitched 6 1/3 innings with the Yankees before being designated for assignment last week. He held opponents to three runs but did so on a troubling 11 hits and five walks. The veteran southpaw fanned 20% of his opponents as well (seven of 35).

A former first-round pick and top prospect, Matzek has been frequently injured throughout his big league career. He had a terrific run with Atlanta in 2020-21, pitching 92 innings of 2.64 ERA ball for the Braves while punching out 31.2% of his opponents against a 12.2% walk rate. Shoulder and elbow troubles — including 2022 Tommy John surgery — have hampered him since that time.

Matzek averaged 94.5 mph with his heater in his brief time with the Yankees. That’s a bit down from his 96 mph peak in 2021 but also higher than at any point in 2022 or 2024. (He missed the 2023 season recovering from that Tommy John procedure.)

At his best, Matzek pairs a mid-90s heater with a mid-80s slider and offsets sub-par command with plus bat-missing ability. Beyond that previously mentioned 31% strikeout rate in 2020-21, Matzek notched a sharp 13.2% swinging-strike rate across those two seasons. He’s only logged an average ground-ball rate in his career (42.9%), but he’s nonetheless been hard to elevate with much authority. Matzek has averaged just 0.65 homers per nine innings in his career — and that’s despite calling Coors Field home for his first two MLB seasons with the Rockies.

Yankees Notes: Canning, Cousins, Stanton

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With Griffin Canning starting for the Mets in today’s Subway Series matchup, Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed to reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that his own club met with Canning and explored a possible signing this past offseason.  Instead, Canning wound up in another corner of the Big Apple, signing with the Mets for $4.25MM in guaranteed money on a one-year contract.

The deal was the culmination of a busy winter for Canning, who was dealt from the Angels to the Braves as part of the Jorge Soler that was essentially a salary dump on Atlanta’s part.  Indeed, Canning found himself non-tendered just a few weeks after the trade was completed, and he caught on with the Mets a month later.  That deal is now looking like one of the better under-the-radar contracts of the offseason, as Canning has blossomed to a 2.36 ERA over 42 innings with the Amazins.

Signing Canning obviously wouldn’t have prevented the Yankees from their big-ticket pitching acquisition of Max Fried, but it could be that if Canning was in the fold, minor league signings Carlos Carrasco or Jake Woodford might not have wound up in the pinstripes, or the Yankees might not have claimed Allan Winans on waivers.  Who knows if Canning would’ve enjoyed the same early success with the Yankees that he has with the Mets, but having an extra starter on hand would’ve been helpful for a Bronx Bombers rotation mix that has been thinned by injuries to Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, and JT Brubaker.

Boone’s pregame media session (with Hoch, the New York Post’s Greg Joyce, and other reporters) also included some injury updates.  Jake Cousins has yet to pitch in 2025 due to a right elbow flexor strain sustained during the offseason, and the reliever’s recovery process has been further delayed by a pec injury that developed during a recent live bullpen session.  Boone doesn’t think the pec issue is “anything serious,” but it was enough for the Yankees to shut Cousins down for 4-5 days to monitor the situation.

Cousins is on the 60-day injured list and was already expected to be out well beyond his first eligible activation date in late May.  Joyce writes that Cousins was aiming to return to New York’s bullpen by the middle of June, “but this shutdown will almost certainly delay that timeline.”

The first of Cousins’ live bullpens came facing Giancarlo Stanton, as part of Stanton’s own rehab from torn tendons in both of his elbows.  Boone said that Stanton’s workload has included running on the field and facing a high-velocity pitching machine, in addition to some live at-bats against the likes of Cousins.

Stanton is also on the 60-day IL and can be activated in a little over a week’s time, though it isn’t clear exactly how close the slugger is to even a minor league rehab assignment, let alone returning to the majors.  Boone did note that Stanton’s rehab process may not follow a standard path, as since Stanton is a DH-only player, he won’t have to take any reps in the field.

Oswaldo Cabrera Undergoes Surgery To Repair Fractured Ankle

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May 17: It is “probably unlikely” that Cabrera will play again in 2025, Boone told Greg Joyce and other reporters on Friday, though an official diagnosis won’t be known for 7-10 days.  Beyond the fracture, Cabrera’s ankle also had some related ligament damage, which Boone said made the surgery “a little more involved” than initially expected, “but all things considered, fairly successful, too.”

May 16: Cabrera announced on Instagram that he underwent ankle surgery yesterday. A timetable for his return still isn’t clear, but the 26-year-old offered some heartfelt perspective after having time to reflect:

“After such a sad night for me, having so many negative thoughts after twisting my ankle so brutally, in so much pain, I went to try to sleep so I wouldn’t give in to more bad thoughts,” he wrote. “When I woke up, one of the first things I did was grab my phone. I didn’t have hundreds, I had THOUSANDS of messages from my family, friends, fans, agents, coaches, teammates — I simply had messages from EVERYONE. I dropped the phone on the bed and with a big SMILE on my face, the first thing I could say was ’God, how blessed I am.’  … I want to THANK YOU ALL. Thank you for worrying about me, for every message, for keeping me in your prayers, for making me feel so supported. This is something that my family and I will never forget!”

May 13, 1:30pm: The Yankees announced that Cabrera has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle fracture. LeMahieu has been reinstated from the IL as the corresponding move.

7:40am: While the Yankees beat the Mariners 11-5 last night, the primary focus in the aftermath of last night’s game was not on the score but on the status of infielder Oswaldo Cabrera. As noted by Greg Joyce of the New York Post, Cabrera went down while attempting to score on a sac fly due to an ankle injury, and eventually had to be loaded onto a stretcher so an ambulance could take him off the field and transport him to a local hospital. Some sort of update on Cabrera’s status will likely be made available at some point today, although it seems all but certain he’s ticketed for an extended absence.

“I think everyone understands it was a pretty serious situation,” manager Aaron Boone said of the injury, as relayed by Joyce. “Just praying for our guy Cabby tonight and hoping for the best. Trust that he’s in good hands as he goes through the night. Obviously a great game in a lot of ways, but a lot of guys feeling for their teammate, who’s the best of them.”

With Cabrera presumably out for the foreseeable future, the Yankees will need to figure out how to address an infield mix that already had questionable depth with him in the mix. Anthony Volpe and Paul Goldschmidt are both everyday players at shortstop and first base respectively, but second and third base are both major question marks. Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play one position or the other on a regular basis but is currently on the shelf with a “high-grade” oblique strain that will keep him out of commission for at least another month. The Yankees are getting DJ LeMahieu back from the injured list tomorrow, as he was already expected to rejoin the club today even prior to Cabrera’s injury.

LeMahieu was previously expected to get regular playing time at second base for the time being, but it’s possible that Cabrera’s injury shifts that expectation. While he hit just .204/.269/.259 in his age-35 campaign last year, LeMahieu offers a lengthy track record as an average-or-better hitter in the majors and hit quite well during his rehab assignment at the minor league level. That’s likely enough to make him the Yankees’ top infielder after Volpe and Goldschmidt due to the slim pickings.

Jorbit Vivas is currently holding things down at second base but has hit just .158/.304/.211 in ten games at the position. Pablo Reyes and Oswald Peraza are both on the roster as well, but Reyes is hitting an even more lackluster .174/.240/.174. Peraza has slashed only a slightly more more respectable .204/.278/.388 in 54 plate appearances this year, and could be platooned with the lefty-swinging Vivas at whichever position LeMahieu doesn’t play.

Outside of the players currently in the active roster mix, the depth is lacking. Braden Shewmake offers a left-handed alternative to Vivas and is already on the 40-man roster, but he’s hitting just .197 with a 94 wRC+ at Triple-A this year. Andrew Velazquez and Max Burt are both in the organization as potential upper-level depth options, but Velazquez has never hit much in either the majors or minors while Burt has just 47 games at Triple-A under his belt as a 28-year-old. Perhaps the Yankees could look for an external addition to their infield, but any players available at this point in the calendar would likely be relatively low-impact options.

Brewers Acquire Rob Zastryzny From Yankees

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Left-hander Rob Zastryzny has been traded from the Yankees to the Brewers, according to announcements from both clubs. Andrew Wagner of Freeman Sports was among those to notice earlier that Zastryzny was in the Brewer clubhouse. The Yanks, who signed the southpaw to a minor league deal, receive cash considerations in return. The Brewers have selected the lefty to their roster and optioned righty Elvis Peguero as the corresponding move. Milwaukee already had an open 40-man spot via Vinny Capra being designated for assignment recently.

As mentioned, Zastryzny signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the winter. He has been at the Triple-A level so far this year with mediocre surface-level results but better numbers under the hood. Through 12 innings, he has a 23.5% strikeout rate, 50% ground ball rate and no walks. Though he has a 4.50 earned run average, thanks to a .378 batting average on balls in play and 60.6% strand rate.

The Brewers are already familiar with Zastryzny, as he pitched for them last year. He signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee ahead of the 2024 campaign and was called up in the summer. However, he only got to make nine appearances before some left elbow tendinitis put him on the injured list in late July. He stayed on the IL through the end of the year and was put on waivers in November, with the Cubs claiming him. He later cleared waivers in February and elected free agency, which led to his deal with the Yankees.

Zastryzny has pitched in six separate MLB seasons but has just 67 innings under his belt. In that time, he has a 4.30 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. His minor league numbers have generally been better. From 2021 to the present, he has thrown 143 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.57 ERA, 29.1% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate.

He finished last year hurt but appears to be healthy now. Perhaps he had some sort of opt-out or upward mobility clause in his contract, with the Brewers more willing to give him a roster spot than the Yankees.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

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