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Yankees Claim Colby White

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The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve claimed right-hander Colby White off waivers from the Rays, who’d designated him for assignment late last week. White has been optioned to Double-A Somerset. The Yankees already had an open 40-man spot after designating outfielder Taylor Trammell for assignment and outrighting him to Triple-A, so a corresponding 40-man move isn’t necessary.

The 25-year-old White was a 2019 sixth-round pick by the Rays. He ranked among the team’s most promising arms at one point but has seen his career set back by injuries. The right-hander missed the 2022 season and a good portion of the 2023 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned to pitch 22 minor league frames late last year and posted a 1.64 ERA that looked pristine on the surface but masked some worrying trends. Namely, White issued a free pass to a whopping 19.5% of his opponents in last year’s comeback effort.

His command woes continued this year, and the good fortune he had in stranding all those free baserunners dried up. White pitched 7 2/3 innings in the Rays’ system but was rocked for 15 earned runs on the strength of 10 hits and 10 walks. He’s given up a walk to just under 22% of his opponents this year and has also hit a pair of batters.

Command wasn’t an issue prior to White’s surgery. In 2021, he posted a sparkling 1.44 ERA across four minor league levels while dominating opponents — evidenced by a comical 45% strikeout rate and a strong 6.4% walk rate. White is in the second of three minor league option years, so the Yanks will send him to Double-A and hope that the change of scenery can get him closer to his 2021 form. If they can accomplish that, White could yet emerge as a quality big league reliever, but he’s clearly a project in the wake of his post-surgery struggles to locate the ball.

Yankees Outright Taylor Trammell

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The Yankees announced that outfielder Taylor Trammell has been sent outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on the weekend.

Trammell, now 26, was once a highly-touted prospect. He was selected 35th overall by the Reds in 2016 and cracked Baseball America’s top 100 list in three straight years from 2018 to 2020. He was traded to the Padres in the 2019 deal that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Yasiel Puig to Cleveland, then was flipped to the Mariners in the 2020 deal that also sent Ty France and Andrés Muñoz to Seattle.

Along the way, Trammell has continued to perform well in the minors but has struggled whenever given opportunities in the big leagues. He has 359 major league plate appearances over the four most recent seasons, but has hit just .167/.270/.363 in that time. His 11.1% walk rate in that stretch is quite strong, but he’s also been punched out at a huge 37% clip.

Since the start of 2021, he stepped to the plate 812 times at the Triple-A level, with a 14% walk rate and 24% strikeout rate. He hit 38 home runs and produced a combined batting line of .274/.381/.506 for a wRC+ of 116.

He exhausted his three option years from 2021 to 2023 as he struggled in the majors, continually getting sent back down to the minors. That left him out of options here in 2024, but the past prospect pedigree and strong minor league numbers still led to interest from other clubs.

The Mariners designated him for assignment on Opening Day, with the Dodgers claiming him off waivers. He received only six plate appearances in two weeks with the Dodgers before getting designated for assignment again. The Yankees put in a claim but didn’t give him playing time either. He got into five games but mostly as a late-game substitute, getting just two plate appearances in over two weeks in pinstripes before his third DFA of the year.

Now that Trammell has finally cleared waivers, he will reported to the RailRiders and look to work his way back to the majors. This is his first career outright and he doesn’t have three years of service time, meaning he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency.

Yankees Designate Taylor Trammell For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that outfielder Taylor Trammell has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up a 26-man roster spot for utilityman Jon Berti, who has been activated from the 10-day injured list after missing the last three weeks due to a groin strain.

In a little more than five weeks’ time, Trammell has been DFA’ed by three different organizations.  The Mariners designated Trammell just prior to Opening Day, and the Dodgers claimed the outfielder off waivers a few days later.  Los Angeles then returned Trammell to DFA limbo in mid-April, and Trammell found himself quickly on the move once more when the Yankees placed a claim.

Trammell is out of minor league options, hence the whirlwind of transactions as teams have had to try and sneak him through waivers in order to officially outright him off the 40-man roster.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Trammell claimed again if yet another club has need for some outfield depth, so he could soon add a fourth team to his 2024 resume.

Over five games apiece with the Dodgers and Yankees, Trammell has only eight plate appearances.  (He had a walk and a hit in his two PA with New York, giving him one of the few perfect batting lines in Yankees franchise history.)  Trammell has hit only .167/.270/.363 over 359 career MLB plate appearances, which has dimmed his star after several years as a top-100 ranked prospect during his time in the minors.

The dreaded “Quad-A” label could apply here since Trammell has continued to rake at Triple-A, but between his speed and ability to play all three outfield positions, Trammell has still managed to attract attention for roster spots.  His past blue-chip prospect status has also undoubtedly helped, as some teams might think Trammell could still have a post-hype breakout in him at age 26.

Gerrit Cole To Begin Mound Work

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The defending AL Cy Young winner will get back on a mound tomorrow. Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the New York beat that Gerrit Cole will throw from a mound on Saturday for the first time in his recovery from elbow inflammation (X link via The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner). The six-time All-Star has been throwing on flat ground in recent weeks.

Boone declined to provide a target for Cole getting back to major league readiness. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last night that the right-hander was shooting for a mid-June return. Cole is technically eligible to return from the 60-day injured list during the last week of May, but it seems he’ll need a few weeks beyond that. Cole will need to get through multiple bullpens and live batting practice sessions before he’s ready for a minor league rehab stint, which would require a handful of starts to build his pitch count.

The Yankees are out to a 20-13 start despite losing their ace. New York’s rotation entered play on Friday with the seventh-best ERA (3.48) and fifth-highest strikeout rate (24.3%) in the majors. The quintet of Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt has taken all but one of the team’s starts. (Cody Poteet handled one spot start.) Each member of the front five has allowed between three and four earned runs per nine. That atypical level of consistency has kept the Yankees near the top of a competitive AL East.

While all of their starters have been productive, none have quite performed at an ace level. A healthy Cole should deliver that kind of production. He’s coming off a 2.63 ERA in an AL-leading 209 innings. That was the fifth sub-3.00 showing of his career. Cole punched out 222 hitters, his sixth time topping 200 punchouts.

Cole is in the fifth season of his nine-year, $324MM free agent deal. He can opt out of the remaining four seasons at the end of this year, but the Yankees could override that by triggering a $36MM club option covering the 2029 season.

Pirates Acquire Keiner Delgado From Yankees

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The Yankees have traded infielder Keiner Delgado to the Pirates as the player to be named later in the JT Brubaker trade from last month, per announcements from both clubs. The infielder wasn’t on the 40-man roster of the Yankees and therefore won’t need to go on the roster of the Pirates.

Last month, the Bucs sent the right-handed Brubaker to the Yankees, along with international bonus pool space, for a player to be named later. Brubaker has not yet pitched for the Yanks as he is still recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery and on the 60-day injured list.

Delgado, 20, was signed by the Yankees as an international amateur out of Venezuela in 2021. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2022, taking 238 plate appearances over 52 games. He drew walks at an incredible 24.4% rate while striking out just 11.8% of the time. He hit just three home runs but slashed .310/.504/.506 for a wRC+ of 178 while stealing 34 bases.

Last year, the Yanks moved him to the Complex League, where he got another 239 plate appearances. He again walked more than he struck out, 15.1% rate to 13% rate, while more than doubling his home run tally by hitting eight on the year. He finished the year with a line of .293/.414/.485 and 36 stolen bases. Defensively, he’s played a bit of second base, third base and shortstop.

Coming into 2024, Delgado was ranked the #22 prospect in the Yankees’ system by Baseball America, #20 by MLB Pipeline and #22 by FanGraphs. The most bullish prospect evaluator seems to be Keith Law of The Athletic, who had Delgado all the way up in the #7 spot a couple of months ago. Law praises the switch-hitter’s work from both sides of the plate and adds that there’s a chance Delgado could stick at shortstop, while other evaluators seem to think he will most likely end up at second base or in a utility role.

He will now move over to the Pirates’ system and will be a long-term project for them, given his youth and that he has yet to even crack full-season ball. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the 2025 season, per FanGraphs.

Yankees Recall Carlos Narváez For MLB Debut

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The Yankees announced today that outfielder Alex Verdugo has been placed on the paternity list. Catcher Carlos Narváez was recalled in a corresponding move. The backstop will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Narváez, 25, was initially signed by the Yankees as an amateur out of Venezuela. He has since climbed the rungs of the minor league ladder, going down on strikes a fair bit but also drawing a fair number of walks and launching a few home runs.

He got into 100 games last year between Double-A and Triple-A, stepping to the plate 419 times. He struck out in 25.8% of those trips but also walked in 15.3% of them and hit 12 long balls. That resulted in a combined slash line of .239/.370/.397, good for a wRC+ of 101.

At the end of last year, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Narváez as the #32 prospect in the club’s system. He noted that the strikeouts will probably become too much of a problem for the backstop to be an impact hitter in the majors, as he’s especially vulnerable to high fastballs. However, Longenhagen gives praise to Narváez for his strength with controlling the running game and “fair” work in terms of receiving and blocking.

The Yanks added Narváez to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They haven’t needed his services at the major league level with Jose Trevino and Austin Wells sharing the catching duties. Narváez has also seen some limited time at the infield corners, which could give him more opportunity to get into a game before Verdugo comes back. He’s currently hitting .211/.376/.342 at Triple-A this year, walking in 18.8% of his plate appearances.

Paternity list stints have a maximum length of three days, though players sometimes get transferred to the restricted list if they need to stay with their families for a bit longer. With Verdugo gone, the Yanks still have plenty of ability to cover the outfield between Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton, Taylor Trammell and Jahmai Jones.

AL East Notes: Kimbrel, Irvin, Kahnle, Whitlock

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Craig Kimbrel blew a save and was charged with the loss in the Orioles’ 7-6 defeat to the Athletics today, but the veteran closer’s health may be of greater concern.  Kimbrel walked Darell Hernaiz and was then visited by the team trainer on the mound, but stayed in the game and allowed a homer to Kyle McCann.  That prompted another trainer’s visit and Kimbrel’s departure, and manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) postgame that Kimbrel was dealing with some upper back tightness.  The right-hander was still receiving treatment and it isn’t yet known if a trip to the injured list might be in order.

Kimbrel has failed to convert either of his last two save opportunities, marking his first blown save since his first appearances of the season.  In between, he reeled off seven saves and a perfect 0.00 in 10 innings of work, and even today’s outing only boosts his ERA to 3.18 for the season.  Overall, the 35-year-old has performed as expected after signing a one-year deal worth $13MM in guaranteed money last winter, as Baltimore was looking for a ninth-inning specialist after Felix Bautista was lost to Tommy John surgery.  If Kimbrel needs some recovery time, Yennier Cano or Danny Coulombe are the likeliest candidates to move into closer duties, which would then necessitate another arm being shuffled into the bullpen.  One possible relief candidate might be starter Albert Suarez, who is out of minor league options but has pitched so well in fill-in starter duty that the O’s likely don’t want to expose him to waivers in order to move him back to Triple-A.  With Kyle Bradish and John Means nearing returns from the IL, the Orioles are in the enviable position of having too many good starters, yet as we’ve potentially seen with this Kimbrel situation, injuries have a way of quickly solving any surpluses.

More from the AL East…

  • Speaking of Orioles starters, x-rays were negative on Cole Irvin’s left middle finger were negative after he was hit by a comebacker in Saturday’s 7-0 win over Oakland.  Irvin told Kubatko and other media that he isn’t feeling any pain, so there seems to be no concern that he’d miss his next start.  With a 3.49 ERA over 28 1/3 innings, Irvin has also pitched well enough to make a case for keeping his rotation job when Bradish and Means are healthy.
  • Tommy Kahnle has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder inflammation, as one setback already delayed the Yankees’ initial plan to activate him from the 15-day IL when first eligible.  However, manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters that Kahnle threw a simulated inning of live batting practice yesterday, and is planning to throw off the mound again in a few days’ time.  Kahnle posted a 2.66 ERA in 40 2/3 relief innings for New York last season, in between a season-opening 60-day IL stint due to biceps tendinitis and then more shoulder inflammation that prematurely ended his season in September.
  • An oblique strain sent Garrett Whitlock to the 15-day injured list back on April 17, and it looks as if the Red Sox righty-hander will be sidelined beyond just a minimal stint.  Manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) that Whitlock has been playing catch “but he still feels it….So no mound progression for him.”  Given the tricky nature of oblique injuries, it might’ve counted as a surprise if Whitlock had missed only 15 days, and it isn’t yet clear when he might be back in action.  Whitlock was looking tremendous prior to his injury, posting a 1.96 ERA over his first four starts and 18 1/3 innings of the season.

Yankees Outright McKinley Moore

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The Yankees announced this afternoon that right-hander McKinley Moore has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Scranton.

Moore, 25, was a 24th-round pick by the White Sox in the 2019 draft but made his big league debut as a member of the Phillies last year after coming to Philadelphia as part of the return for outfielder Adam Haseley back in 2022. The righty struggled badly in his first taste of big league action and was lit up for seven runs on five hits, five walks, and two hit batsmen against just two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Those three relief appearances are Moore’s only big league action to this point in his career. The right-hander was retained by the Phillies on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason but was designated for assignment early in Spring Training to make room for the addition of Spencer Turnbull to the club’s roster. The Yankees took the opportunity to claim him off waivers and bring him into the organization, though he has continued to struggle since jumping organizations. In just 2/3 of an inning of work for Scranton this year, Moore has allowed two runs while walking six and hitting a batter while recording just one strikeout.

Despite Moore’s obvious control struggles, the right-hander has flashed enticing stuff including an upper-90s fastball during his limited big league action. The 6’6” power arm could be an impactful relief arm for a club if he can find a way to rein in his control, and now the Yankees will get the opportunity to work with the 25-year-old throughout the year without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him. While it’s not impossible to imagine Moore pitching for the big league club at some point this year, with non-roster veterans such as Phil Bickford and Duane Underwood Jr. currently available to the Yankees in the minor leagues it seems more likely that Moore will have to iron out his control issues to get another shot at the major league level.

AL Notes: Robert, Berti, Sano

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White Sox fans received a positive update from GM Chris Getz regarding the status of injured center fielder Luis Robert Jr. over the weekend, with MLB.com’s Injury Tracker noting that the club believes Robert could return to the lineup in Chicago as soon as the middle of May. According to Getz, Robert’s rehab has “been really positive” as he’s progressed to both running and hitting without issue.

If Robert could be back with the big league club in as little as two weeks, that would be excellent news for the White Sox. The 26-year-old suffered a grade 2 strain of his left hip flexor three weeks ago that was initially expected to sideline him for at least at weeks, with some club officials reportedly worrying that Robert would miss the entire first half. Fortunately, the slugger appears to have avoided those worst-case-scenarios.

While Robert had been hitting a relatively pedestrian .214/.241/.500 through seven games at the time of his injury, he’ll nonetheless be an immediate upgrade to the outfield mix in Chicago upon his return even if he doesn’t regain the form that saw him finish 12th in AL MVP voting last year. The White Sox are currently relying on newly-signed veteran Tommy Pham in center field in Robert’s absence, with Andrew Benintendi and Robbie Grossman holding down the outfield corners.

More from around the American League…

  • Yankees third baseman Jon Berti is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset today, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. The utilityman, who the club acquired from the Marlins in a three-team trade just before Opening Day, has been shelved for two weeks due to a left groin strain. Prior to the injury, Berti had been operating as part of a platoon at third base with Oswaldo Cabrera, though the 34-year-old veteran was just 4-for-19 when he was placed on the IL. Cabrera has taken over regular duties at third base in the absence of both Berti and DJ LeMahieu, posting a respectable .258/.294/.404 in 95 trips to the plate.
  • The Angels had an injury scare this weekend when Miguel Sano was pulled from Friday’s game during the sixth inning due to a bout of knee soreness. The slugger remained out of Anaheim’s lineup last night while undergoing an MRI on his knee but indicated to reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) that he is day-to-day and expects to avoid a trip to the injured list after the test revealed inflammation in his left knee. That Sano won’t require a trip to the IL is surely a relief for the Angels, as the soon-to-be 31-year-old has taken over the third base job with the club while Anthony Rendon is out with a partially torn hamstring. Through 71 trips to the plate this season, Sano has hit a respectable .262/.352/.361 (110 wRC+), though much of that production has been thanks to an unsustainable .441 BABIP.

Yankees Claim Michael Tonkin, Designate McKinley Moore

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The Yankees announced that they have claimed right-hander Michael Tonkin off waivers from the Mets. He had been designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week. To open a roster spot for Tonkin, right-hander McKinley Moore was designated for assignment.

Tonkin, 34, has been getting passed around the league so far this year. He was non-tendered by Atlanta at the end of last season and then signed a major league deal with the Mets. Shortly after the season started, he was designated for assignment and went to the Twins on a cash deal but then returned to the Mets on waivers. Now he’s on the move yet again and will join the Yankees.

Amid all those transactions, he has managed to throw nine innings on the year. He’s allowed six earned runs for a flat earned run average of 6.00, which obviously isn’t too impressive, but the peripherals are solid. He has struck out 23.9% of batters faced while walking 8.7% of them and keeping 44.4% of balls in play on the ground, with all of those rate stats coming in fairly close to league averages.

With Atlanta last year, he tossed 80 innings over 45 appearances. He had a 4.28 ERA in that time, as well as a 23.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 38.3% ground ball rate. He’s clearly an attractive enough bullpen arm that teams keep grabbing him but he’s also out of options and keeps getting squeezed.

Since he’s out of options, the Yankees will need to make room for him on the active roster whenever he reports to the team. Of their bullpen arms, Ian Hamilton, Ron Marinaccio and Cody Morris all have options and could be sent down. Hamilton isn’t likely the one to be packing his bag since he’s entered a high-leverage role for the Yankees. He had two saves and five holds last year and has already added four more holds this year.

To get Tonkin onto the 40-man, the Yankees have bumped off Moore. He’s only been with the Yanks a short time, having been claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February. He has made two appearances for the Triple-A club but walked six of the nine batters he faced.

That continues a pattern of control problems for the righty. He walked 23.8% of batters faced in his major league debut last year. In his 20 1/3 innings of minor league work in 2023, he struck out 40.7% of batters faced but also gave free passes to 24.2% of them.

The Yankees will now have one week to trade McKinley or pass him through waivers. The control problems will obviously be a concern to other teams but Moore’s also struck out 32.6% of batters faced throughout his entire minor league career. He averaged 97.2 miles per hour on his fastball during his MLB debut last year while also throwing a sweeper and a changeup. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to a club looking for a long-term project.

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