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Nestor Cortes

Latest On Yankees’ COVID-19 Situation

By Mark Polishuk | July 16, 2021 at 3:22pm CDT

JULY 16: Testing today has turned up zero new positive cases, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). However, Boone added that six Yankees players have been confirmed positive within the past week and are expected to miss at least ten days, suggesting that follow-up testing on Judge, Urshela and Higashioka has confirmed their positive results. Friday’s game against the Red Sox will be played, with yesterday’s postponement to be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 17.

JULY 15, 5:20 pm: Judge is indeed the Yankees All-Star in question, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham reports (via Twitter).  Gio Urshela, and Kyle Higashioka are the other two Yankees in COVID protocol, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets.

JULY 15, 5:05 pm: Rafael Devers and other Red Sox All-Star representatives were asked to undergo additional COVID-19 testing after being told that one of the Yankees’ All-Star reps tested positive, ESPN’s Marly Rivera (Twitter links) reports.  This would indicate at least one of Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, or Gerrit Cole — Cole was replaced on the All-Star roster but was still present during festivities.

JULY 15, 3:39 pm: Tonight’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees has been postponed due to a COVID-19 situation within the Yankees’ clubhouse, as originally reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Major League Baseball released an official announcement about the postponement, noting “positive COVID-19 tests within the New York Yankees organization.”  There isn’t yet any word about a make-up date for tonight’s contest, and it isn’t yet known if any other games in the scheduled four-game series could be in jeopardy.

Speaking with The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (all links to Twitter) and other reporters, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the club has six ongoing COVID-19 cases, all of players.  Cashman confirmed that the three players currently on the Yankees’ COVID-related injury list (left-handers Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta, and righty Jonathan Loaisiga) all tested positive for the virus, while three other potential cases are pending confirmation of positive results.  ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that “at least two” of the positive COVID tests were delivered by Yankees position players.

Most importantly, Cashman indicated that the cases appear to be asymptomatic, saying “As of right now, everybody is ok.”  The Yankees as a whole have passed the league’s mandated 85% vaccination rate , though Cashman said that only “most” of the six players had received vaccines.  Cortes, Peralta, and Loaisiga had all been vaccinated.

Cortes and Peralta were placed on the COVID-19 list earlier today, while Loaisiga’s placement came back on July 10.  Loaisiga has yet to rejoin the team from their road trip in Houston, Cashman said, as the right-hander has been quarantined.

This is the second time the Yankees have been hit with a COVID outbreak this season, after eight players and coaches tested positive for the virus back in May.  (New York manager Aaron Boone told Adler and other reporters today that Gleyber Torres’ positive test at the time was actually a false positive.)  That outbreak didn’t result in any postponed games, as while COVID-IL placements have still been rather common this season, today’s Red Sox/Yankees matchup is the only the eighth game of the season to be postponed for COVID-related reasons.  The other seven postponements all took place prior to April 19.

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Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Aaron Judge Coronavirus Giovanny Urshela Jonathan Loaisiga Kyle Higashioka Nestor Cortes Wandy Peralta

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Yankees Select Trey Amburgey, Activate Zack Britton

By Steve Adams | July 15, 2021 at 11:45am CDT

The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of minor league outfielder Trey Amburgey to the Major League roster and reinstated lefty Zack Britton from the 10-day injured list. In a pair of corresponding roster moves, both Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta were placed on the Covid-19-related injured list. The team has not provided further updates on their status. Players on the Covid list do not count against a team’s 40-man roster, so no further corresponding move was necessary to place Amburgey on the 40-man.

Amburgey, 26, was the team’s 13th-round pick back in 2015. He’s never been considered one of the organization’s top prospects and posted mostly average results while rising through the minor league ranks. However, his 2019 campaign in Triple-A was a bit above the league average, and his second go-around at that level has been enormously productive.

Through 161 plate appearances so far in 2021, Amburgey has tattooed Triple-A pitching at a .312/.379/.582 clip. He’s connected on seven home runs, 15 doubles and a triple while walking at a healthy 9.9 percent clip and fanning in 24.2 percent his plate appearances.

Amburgey has played the outfield corners exclusively so far in 2021, but he does have 753 innings of center-field work under his belt — including 122 innings there back in Triple-A during the 2019 season. That makes him an option to work into the mix at multiple spots, as the Yankees have received generally poor collective output from both left field (.232/.297/.363, 83 wRC+) and center field (.182/.289/.312, 71 wRC+) so far in 2021. Right fielder Aaron Judge has been characteristically excellent, both with the glove and the bat, but the outfield group as a whole has been a key factor in the Yankees’ underwhelming 2021 campaign.

The 33-year-old Britton, meanwhile, will return from his second IL stint of the season — the second a much shorter one than the first. Britton was out from Opening Day through June 12 due to arthroscopic surgery that removed bone chips from his left elbow. He tossed just 4 1/3 innings upon his activation before going down with a hamstring strain that sidelined him another three weeks.

Britton’s return will come at a time when the Yankees’ other high-priced bullpen lefty, Aroldis Chapman, has been melting down at the most alarming rate of his career. Chapman carried a near-immaculate 0.39 ERA through early June before imploding in a four-run loss to the Twins at Target Field in which he failed to retire any batters. He’s now allowed runs in five of his past ten outings, including three of his past four, and pitched to a disastrous 18.90 ERA over those ten outings. Since that June 10 meltdown, Chapman has yielded 14 earned runs on 15 hits and 11 walks in just 6 2/3 frames. Four of those hits have left the yard, and he’s also hit a batter. He’s faced 46 batters and allowed 27 of them to reach.

Given those struggles, it wouldn’t at all be a surprise to see a returning Britton and the steadier Chad Green supplant Chapman in high-leverage and/or save situations. (Although Green himself just imploded for four runs in his final first-half outing.) Britton, of course, has more closing experience than just about any “setup” man around the game, having racked up 153 saves in his career — including an AL-best 47 back in 2016 with the Orioles.

The Yankees are turning to Amburgey and Britton at a pivotal time for the club. They’ll face the division-leading Red Sox in eight of their next ten games, with the only reprieve coming via a two-game set against the Phillies.

The Yankees’ season in many ways hangs in the balance; they’re already eight games behind Boston in the AL East and four and a half games back in the AL Wild Card chase. A strong showing in these eight games could rally the club and push the front office into buy mode with the July 30 trade deadline looming, but if the Sox are able to topple the Yankees in the majority of these eight games, it could serve as a proverbial nail in the coffin of the 2021 Yankees, who’d have some interesting veterans to peddle in advance of the deadline.

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New York Yankees Transactions Nestor Cortes Trey Amburgey Wandy Peralta Zach Britton

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Yankees Select Nestor Cortes Jr.

By Anthony Franco | May 30, 2021 at 11:07am CDT

The Yankees announced they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. Righty Nick Nelson was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to clear active roster space.

Cortes, 26, began his professional career with the New York organization. Selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft, he made his MLB debut with Baltimore in 2018 but didn’t stick on the roster all year. The Orioles returned him to the Yankees, where went on to log rather significant long relief duty the following season. Cortes tossed 66 2/3 innings over 33 games in 2019, working to a 5.67 ERA with average strikeout and walk numbers (23.2% and 9.4%, respectively). That wasn’t enough to keep his roster spot, as Cortes was designated for assignment and traded to the Mariners for international bonus pool space.

Seattle gave Cortes a brief MLB look last season, but the results were disastrous. He lasted just 7 2/3 innings in five games, allowing 14 runs (13 earned) on a whopping six homers and walks apiece. The Mariners waived him after the season, and he signed a minor league contract with his original organization last December. Cortes has been excellent in fifteen innings with the RailRiders this year, allowing just two runs while running an 18:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

To free a 40-man roster spot for Cortes, the Yankees transferred center fielder Aaron Hicks to the 60-day injured list. Hicks is expected to miss the rest of the season recovering from wrist surgery.

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New York Yankees Transactions Aaron Hicks Nestor Cortes

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Yankees, Nestor Cortes Jr. Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | December 21, 2020 at 8:58am CDT

Left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. is headed back to the Yankees organization, as the pitcher himself revealed last week on Instagram. The team hasn’t formally announced the move, which is surely a minor league pact. “I’m extremely excited to announce I will be a Yankee again,” Cortes wrote. “I’m truly lucky to have this opportunity. It’s time to work to get up there.”

Cortes, who recently turned 26, was a 36th-round pick by the Yankees back in 2013 and has spent parts of the past three seasons in the big leagues. The Orioles selected him in the Rule 5 Draft back in 2017 and gave him his big league debut during the 2018 season. However, the O’s cut him loose after just 4 2/3 frames and returned him to the Yankees.

In 2019, Cortes made his Yankees debut, appearing in 33 Major League games but struggling to the tune of a 5.67 ERA and 5.57 FIP. He averaged better than a strikeout per inning (9.3 K/9) but was too prone to walks (3.8 BB/9) and especially to home runs (2.2 HR/9) to have much success. It was more of the same with the Mariners in 2020, when Cortes was tagged 13 earned runs and a staggering six home runs in just 7 2/3 innings.

All in all, Cortes has a grisly 6.72 ERA in 79 Major League frames, but he’s been excellent in Triple-A, with a 3.11 ERA and a 199-to-62 K/BB ratio in 205 1/3 innings. He’s been sharp thus far in the Dominican Winter League as well, holding opponents to five runs on 11 hits and five walks with 21 strikeouts through 15 2/3 innings.

Big league struggles notwithstanding, three different big league teams have been intrigued enough by Cortes and his potential to give him a look over the past three seasons. He’ll surely have to earn his way onto the roster with a big spring showing or perhaps some early success in Triple-A, but the Yankees are in need of pitching depth and Cortes provides that both in the rotation and the bullpen.

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New York Yankees Transactions Nestor Cortes

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Matt Magill, Carl Edwards Jr., Nestor Cortes Jr. Elect Free Agency

By TC Zencka | October 22, 2020 at 11:20am CDT

The Seattle Mariners outrighted three relievers to Triple-A, the team announced. Matt Magill, Carl Edwards Jr., and Nestor Cortes Jr. each elected free agency. The Mariners have 7 open spots on their 40-man roster.

Magill underwent arthroscopic debridement surgery on his right shoulder on Sept. 15, effectively ending his season. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, per the team release. The 30-year-old reliever did a fine job for the Mariners in 2019 after Seattle purchased his contract from the Twins in July, posting a 3.63 ERA across 22 appearances totaling 22 1/3 innings. His 2020 was more fraught, however, yielding over 6 runs per 9 innings before going down with injury. Originally drafted in the 31st round by the Dodgers, Magill has appeared in the bigs with the Dodgers, Reds, Twins, and Mariners since his debut in 2013.

Edwards Jr. will be well-remembered by Cubs fans for his time in Wrigley Field where he spent the first 4 1/2 seasons of his career. One of a small cadre of relievers that gained manager Joe Maddon’s trust during their title run in the 2016 playoffs, Edwards Jr. remained a key member of the Cubs’ bullpen from 2015 to 2018 with a 3.06 ERA/3.12 FIP in 159 innings over 172 appearances with 12.3 K/9 to 4.9 BB/9. The String Bean Slinger lost his command as he stumbled through a difficult season in 2019. The Cubs eventually traded him to the Padres for Brad Wieck in a swap of bullpen projects.

Edwards Jr. signed with the Mariners as a free agent before 2020, appearing in just 5 games, though he looked sharp in those 4 2/3 innings, allowing just 1 earned run while striking out 6 to just 1 walk. A forearm strain sent him to the injured list on August 10th, ending his season. The 29-year-old will be an interesting reclamation project to track for someone next season. If he can return to the player he was with the Cubs, he’d certainly be a viable weapon out of the bullpen.

Like Magill and Edwards Jr., Cortes was put on the injured list in mid-August, and he too missed the remainder of the season. Cortes made one start and four relief appearances for the Mariners, giving up 13 earned runs across 7 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old has a 6.72 career ERA over parts of 3 seasons with the Orioles, Yankees, and Mariners.

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Seattle Mariners Transactions Carl Edwards Jr. Matt Magill Nestor Cortes Relievers

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Minor MLB Transactions: 8/31/20

By Anthony Franco | August 31, 2020 at 8:32pm CDT

A round-up of some smaller moves with the trade deadline in the rearview mirror:

  • The Mariners announced they’ve transferred left-hander Nestor Cortes to the 45-day injured list with a left elbow impingement. He’d been placed on the 10-day IL August 15. The former Yankee long reliever was bombed in his five appearances for Seattle this season, surrendering 14 runs (13 earned) on six home runs with eight strikeouts and six walks in 7.2 innings. The move clears a space on Seattle’s 40-man roster.
  • The Angels announced they’ve selected the contract of catcher José Briceño. The 27-year-old saw action in 46 games for Los Angeles back in 2018, hitting .239/.299/.385 in 128 plate appearances. Briceño will step into the #2 catching role behind Anthony Bemboom. The Angels traded starting backstop Jason Castro to the Padres yesterday.
  • The Brewers have selected the contract of right-hander Justin Topa, the team announced. The 29-year-old will be making his MLB debut whenever he first gets into a game. Milwaukee signed Topa out of independent ball after the 2018 season, and he went on to put up a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings in Double-A in 2019. He’ll step into the bullpen void left by today’s trade of David Phelps to the Phillies.
  • The Red Sox announced they have selected the contracts of three players: infielder Yairo Muñoz, left-hander Mike Kickham and right-hander Robinson Leyer. Muñoz, 25, signed with Boston on a minor-league deal after a bizarre end to his time with the Cardinals. Kickham, 31, hasn’t pitched in the majors since tossing 30.1 innings with the 2013-14 Giants. Leyer, 27, has yet to make his major league debut. He has a 4.01 ERA in parts of five Double-A seasons.
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Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels Milwaukee Brewers Seattle Mariners Transactions Jose Briceno Justin Topa Mike Kickham Nestor Cortes Robinson Leyer Yairo Munoz

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Mariners Designate Bryan Shaw, Place Nestor Cortes On 10-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | August 15, 2020 at 5:44pm CDT

The Mariners announced a series of roster moves today, including the news that right-hander Bryan Shaw has been designated for assignment and left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. is going to the 10-day injured list due to an elbow impingement.  Replacing the two hurlers are southpaw Taylor Guilbeau and righty Ljay Newsome, with Newsome making his first appearance on a Major League roster after his contract was selected.

Shaw signed a big league contract with Seattle just prior to their season opener, and he has an ugly 18.00 ERA over six innings pitched.  He was briefly sent down to the Mariners’ alternate training site last week but Shaw had another rough outing last night, giving up two earned runs over 1 2/3 innings.

Given these results, it’s fair to wonder if the M’s could potentially release Shaw if he isn’t claimed off waivers.  There wouldn’t be much of a cost associated with a release, as the Mariners are only paying Shaw a prorated league minimum salary.  The Rockies are paying the rest of the prorated $9MM salary Shaw was guaranteed this season, as Colorado released the veteran reliever in mid-July.

Cortes has also begun his season in disastrous fashion, allowing runs in all five of his appearances en route to a 15.26 ERA over 7 2/3 innings.  The lowlight came last night, as Cortes had to make an emergency start after Yusei Kikuchi was a late scratch, and Cortes proceeded to allow seven earned runs in just one-third of an inning against the Astros.  The 25-year-old has yet to break out at the big league level, having posted a 5.80 ERA over 71 1/3 IP with the Orioles and Yankees in 2018-19.  Seattle acquired him in a trade with New York last November.

Newsome, 23, was a 26th-round pick for the Mariners in the 2015 draft, and is ranked by MLB.com as the 29th-best prospect in Seattle’s farm system.  Newsome has started 91 of his 99 career games in the minors, with a 4.11 ERA, 8.5 K/9, and a very impressive 7.63 K/BB rate over 499 2/3 innings — with only a 1.1 BB/9, Newsome has displayed excellent control.

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Seattle Mariners Transactions Bryan Shaw Nestor Cortes Taylor Guilbeau

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Yankees Trade Nestor Cortes Jr. To Mariners

By Steve Adams | November 25, 2019 at 1:41pm CDT

1:41pm: The two teams have both announced the move.

“Nestor is a versatile lefty who can do a little bit of everything,” Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said in a statement announcing the swap. “He can start, he can relieve, he can give you those middle innings or even operate as an opener.”

Seattle’s 40-man roster is now at 36 players.

1:30pm: The Yankees have traded left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. to the Mariners in exchange for international bonus allotments, Buster Olney of ESPN reports (via Twitter). New York designated Cortes for assignment last week when setting the 40-man roster in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Cortes, 25 next month, has appeared in 37 big league games over the past two seasons — all but one of which was a relief outing. Though he’s been a longtime Yankees farmhand, the lefty actually made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2018 after Baltimore selected him in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft. He wasn’t able to hold his roster spot, however, and was returned to the Yankees during the ’18 season.

This past year, Cortes made his Yankees debut but limped to a 5.67 ERA in 66 2/3 innings. He averaged 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and logged a 10.5 percent swinging-strike rate, but Cortes also averaged 3.8 walks and 2.2 home runs per nine frames in his limited time with the Yanks. He doesn’t generate many grounders (34.2 percent), nor does he throw especially hard (89.6 mph average fastball), but lefties with strong Triple-A track records and minor league options remaining will always have some appeal throughout the league. Cortes has a pair of options left and, in 205 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, has a 3.11 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. A move to a more pitcher-friendly setting could certainly help to curb the home-run troubles that plagued him in 2019, and at the very least he’ll give the Mariners some depth both in the rotation and as a long relief option.

The amount of money the Yankees received in return for Cortes isn’t presently known, but international allotments have to be traded in blocks of $250K, so New York picked up at least that much in additional resources to add to its pool.

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New York Yankees Seattle Mariners Transactions Nestor Cortes

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Interesting Players Designated In Advance Of Rule 5 Deadline

By Dylan A. Chase | November 21, 2019 at 6:08pm CDT

Wednesday marked the deadline for teams to protect players from next month’s Rule 5 draft, and the evening didn’t pass without its fair share of activity. Dozens of prospects were ultimately provided shelter on their clubs’ 40-man rosters, but, as expected, many of those moves required some tough decisions on the part of parent clubs.

While gaining a spot on a 40-man roster marks an important step in a young player’s career, it often means that a veteran must be politely shown the organizational door. Sure enough, Wednesday saw several experienced position players and pitchers designated for assignment, traded to rival clubs, or outright released.

With the smoke still clearing on many of these moves, readers may simply be scrambling to make sense of which of their favorite team’s prospects were left unprotected in advance of the Rule 5. But what about the veterans who are currently left floating in DFA limbo as a result of the evening’s activities?

Today offers a good opportunity to examine a few players who, in the coming days, will be available for selection via waiver claim or trade after being designated by their teams last night. While we saw some well-known, oft-injured names either released (Jacoby Ellsbury) or traded (Jose De Leon) by their clubs, we’ll focus instead on DFA’d players who could soon find a place on another MLB roster.

Matt Duffy: Rays GM Erik Neander had a busy night on Wednesday, with his club adding five prospects to its 40-man. While the Rays’ trade of the oft-injured De Leon to the Reds was likely a tough roster-clearing pill for fans to swallow, Duffy’s own designation also brought about a few “what-if” questions. Originally acquired as part of the 2016 package coming back to Tampa in return for Matt Moore, Duffy projected as a controllable, well-rounded infielder who, true to the club’s modus operandi, could play a few positions while hitting well enough to justify his lineup spot. Unfortunately, injuries limited Duffy to just 199 games in a Rays uni since the middle of 2016, and he now hits the waiver wire as a 28-year-old just one year removed from his 2018 batting line of .294/.361/.366 production (107 wRC+).

Nick Goody: The 28-year-old Goody was jettisoned from the Indians roster when the club added outfielder Daniel Johnson, right-hander Triston McKenzie and left-hander Scott Moss to its roster. While the Indians boast enviable pitching depth, it’s easy to see where Goody could fit on a number of MLB rosters. Since making his debut with the Yankees in 2015, the LSU alum has logged a 3.81 ERA supported by a 10.9 K/9 rate; he was superlative in 2017 out of the Cleveland pen, in particular, notching a 2.80 ERA/3.45 FIP across 54 2/3 innings of work. Goody’s 4.62 FIP and 4.9 BB/9 rate in 2019 showed that there was perhaps a bit of rust beneath the veneer of his 3.54 ERA, but the longtime Statcast darling shouldn’t have trouble finding a big league job next season, given the collective strength of his track record.

Nestor Cortes Jr.: Cortes was culled from the Yankees’ active roster on Wednesday, on the heels of a rough 2019 campaign out of the New York bullpen. While his 5.67 ERA across 66 2/3 Bronx innings last year would likely tell you what you need to know, Cortes is still just 24 years old and possesses a solid track record of success in the upper minors. The lefty posited a 3.86 ERA across seven games and six starts for the Triple-A Yankees of Scranton Wilkes-Barre, with decent underlying metrics (9.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9). Cortes doesn’t throw hard, with a fastball sitting around 89 mph, but he offers a five-pitch mix and could represent an interesting depth flier for a rebuilding club in search of a back-end starter.

Jharel Cotton: Like Duffy, Cotton’s story is largely defined by injury. Since coming to Oakland from the Dodgers as part of the package received in return for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, Cotton has loomed as a potential impact arm on the edges of the Athletics rotation. However, his unimpressive 2017 (5.58 ERA in 129 innings) was followed up by Tommy John surgery in 2018, and Cotton ultimately missed most of 2019 due to a hamstring issue that required surgery. The now-27-year-old righty hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors in two years, but his relative youth and starter’s repertoire could see him latch on with a new team in short order. Cotton was removed from the A’s roster on Wednesday to make room for Daulton Jefferies.

Tim Mayza: Mayza doesn’t bring the former prospect pedigree of some of the other names on this list, and he’s a non-factor for 2020 specifically after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  But, for a team interested in signing Mayza to a low-cost two-year deal, what he does offer is a lefty arm and at least some record of effectiveness while pitching in the AL East. While the 27-year-old limped to a 4.91 ERA/4.73 FIP in extended action in 2019, he was far more effective in a more limited feature in 2018. That season saw Mayza log a 3.28 ERA/3.36 FIP through 35.2 innings; not exactly an overwhelmingly convincing sample size, but lefties are at a perpetual premium and Mayza does hold a 10.6 K/9 rate across 104 career innings. Lefties have managed just a 70 OPS+ against Mayza for his career, although it is fair to wonder whether next year’s introduction of a three-batter minimum rule may limit clubs in their deployment of LOOGY types.

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MLBTR Originals Jharel Cotton Matt Duffy Nestor Cortes Nick Goody Tim Mayza

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Yankees Release Jacoby Ellsbury, Designate Greg Bird

By Connor Byrne | November 20, 2019 at 7:21pm CDT

The Yankees have released outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and designated first baseman Greg Bird for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. The club has also designated left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. and added seven players – outfielder Estevan Florial and right-handers Deivi Garcia, Luis Gil, Brooks Kriske, Luis Medina, Nick Nelson and Miguel Yajure – to its 40-man roster. Ken Davidoff and George A. King III of the New York Post first reported the Yankees were considering releasing Ellsbury.

This brings to an end a hugely disappointing New York tenure for Ellsbury, a former star with archrival Boston who parlayed his success with the Red Sox into a seven-year, $153MM deal with the Yankees after 2013. Ellsbury was merely a decent to good contributor for the Yankees from 2014-17, and a series of injuries prevented him from taking the field at all over the previous two seasons.

The Yankees currently have a need in center field with Aaron Hicks on the mend from Tommy John surgery and Brett Gardner a free agent, so the fact that they’ve moved on from Ellsbury and eaten the remaining $26MM-plus on his contract speaks to how far his stock has fallen. Now, if the 36-year-old is going to continue his career, he’ll likely have to settle for a minor league pact with another organization.

Injuries have also been ruinous for the 27-year-old Bird, whom the Yankees once regarded as their first baseman of the future. Bird was tremendous during a 178-plate appearance debut in 2015, when the left-hander’s swing looked tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, but that’s the only regular-season excellence he has shown to this point. Bird missed all of 2016 after undergoing shoulder surgery and then hit a meager .194/.287/.388 in 522 trips to the plate from 2017-19. Thanks in part to foot problems, he totaled just 41 PA at the MLB level this season. At this point, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team trade for or claim Bird, who still has three minor league options left.

Cortes, 24, is also in the DFA pile with Bird. The southpaw, a two-time member of the Yankees organization and also a former Oriole, saw extensive MLB action with New York in 2019. While Cortes limped to a 5.67 ERA/5.57 FIP in that 66 2/3-inning span, he did amass 9.32 strikeouts per nine against 3.78 walks. Cortes also had a solid year at the Triple-A level, where he posted a 3.86 ERA/3.40 FIP with 9.53 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 39 2/3 frames. He has a pair of minor league options remaining.

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New York Yankees Newsstand Transactions Brooks Kriske Deivi Garcia Greg Bird Jacoby Ellsbury Luis Gil Luis Medina Miguel Yajure Nestor Cortes Nick Nelson

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