Poll: How Will The Yankees’ Rotation Fare In 2026?
Much has been made of the Yankees’ apparent offseason strategy of “running it back.” While retaining Trent Grisham and especially Cody Bellinger surely count as successes, some fans were hoping for more tangible improvements. Aaron Judge will be 34 in April, and there are only so many years left in his prime (at least as a perennial MVP candidate). The Blue Jays, Orioles, and Red Sox have all upgraded their rosters, meaning the Yankees will have their work cut out for them in 2026.
One area with a range of potential outcomes is the rotation. The group performed quite well in 2025, placing eighth in the league with a combined 13.5 fWAR. Max Fried and Carlos Rodón were the biggest reasons for that success. Fried excelled in a career-high 195 1/3 innings, showcasing his signature control and groundball tendencies en route to a fourth-place finish in AL Cy Young voting. Rodón matched Fried’s innings total in his best season as a Yankee, posting a 3.09 ERA with an above-average 25.7% strikeout rate and cutting down on home runs. Rookie Will Warren made 33 starts and showed promise, as did Cam Schlittler in a second-half callup.
The ceiling is clearly high, especially if Warren and Schlittler do well in their sophomore campaigns. Still, there are downside risks related to injuries, underperformance, and depth. Starting with injuries, Gerrit Cole will be back at some point after missing last year due to Tommy John surgery. Prior to that, he only pitched half a season in 2024 due to elbow inflammation. He is now 35 years old with his last full-season workload coming in 2023, when he won the AL Cy Young award.
Manager Aaron Boone said last week that Cole has “had a good rehab” with “no hiccups” (link via Manny Randhawa of MLB.com). It’s not a matter of whether he will perform well when he returns. The question is whether he will sustain his ace-level, pre-injury performance now that he is in his mid-30s and coming off of injury. There is also the matter of volume, as even a June return from Cole would leave several months’ worth of innings for other starters to cover.
Rodón is in a similar spot after undergoing surgery in October to remove loose bodies in his elbow. He is more likely to avoid starting 2026 on the 60-day injured list than Cole, with Rodón aiming to return in late April or early May. He is two years younger than Cole, so he’s less of a risk to suddenly decline. The question with Rodón is whether he can repeat his 2025 performance. A look at his Statcast page offers reason for optimism, with his fastball, breaking, and offspeed run values all grading in the 91st percentile or better. That said, he was more of a mid-rotation starter in 2024, when he posted a 3.95 ERA and allowed 1.59 home runs per nine innings. Both he and Cole are under contract through 2028.
As for the younger arms, a lot of the rotation’s success depends on improvement from Warren and Schlittler maintaining his performance over a larger sample. For Warren, that comes down to improving his secondary offerings. While his fastball graded out in the 95th percentile by run value, his breaking and offspeed pitches were points of struggle. His slider was his main breaking pitch, but Statcast considered it 10.6 runs below average. His curveball and changeup were both at least 4.6 runs below average. His 24.1% strikeout rate was impressive, but he’ll need to sharpen his secondary offerings and cut back on hard contact if he wants to become a true mid-rotation starter.
Schlittler was a revelation in 14 starts last year. He had a 2.96 ERA and a 27.3% strikeout rate in 73 innings during the regular season and turned in an all-time rookie performance in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Red Sox. His ceiling is arguably higher than Warren’s, although there are similar questions regarding his secondary offerings and control. Statcast took a negative view of his curveball and slider, which he only used a combined 17.3% of the time. Meanwhile, his 10.2% walk rate could use some improvement. None of that diminishes the value of his plus fastball, of course. Still, he’ll need to make adjustments in order to sustain last year’s performance.
Outside of those arms, the club has Luis Gil and newly-acquired Ryan Weathers on hand. Gil won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2024 but only threw 57 innings over 11 starts last year due to a right lat strain. His 3.32 ERA was good on the surface, but his peripheral numbers – 4.94 xERA and 4.63 FIP – painted him about a run and a half higher. His struggles with control are well-known at this point, and he also suffered a 10.0% drop in strikeout rate in 2025.
Weathers has 86th-percentile fastball velocity, but he has only thrown 281 big-league innings since debuting in 2021. Last year, he was limited to eight starts and 38 1/3 innings due to left flexor and lat strains. The Yankees shelled out four prospects to acquire him, so they’ll give him a chance to harness his fastball while betting on better health. Otherwise, the team has Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn as depth options. Yarbrough did well enough last year, but neither option inspires much confidence if they need to cover significant innings. Meanwhile, Clarke Schmidt underwent UCL surgery in July, so he won’t be an option until the second half, if at all.
How do you think the Yankees’ rotation will fare in 2026? Be sure to let us know in the poll.
How Will The Yankees' Rotation Fare In 2026?
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Yankees Re-Sign Ryan Yarbrough
The Yankees officially re-signed Ryan Yarbrough to a one-year deal. The Excel Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $2.5MM with another $250K available in bonuses. He’d unlock $50K apiece for every ten innings pitched between 75 and 115.
Assuming the deal makes it over the finish line, it’ll be a starkly different offseason experience than Yarbrough had last year, when he lingered on the market until February before catching on with the Blue Jays on a minor league deal. He opted out of that deal just before Opening Day, which led him to a major league contract with the Yankees for the 2025 campaign. It was a decent enough year for the lefty in the Bronx, as he pitched to a 4.36 ERA across 64 innings of work split between eight starts and 11 relief appearances.
That’s roughly league average (94 ERA+) production on the surface, and more advanced metrics are something of a mixed bag but generally support that sentiment. His 5.06 FIP is well below par, but much of that has to do with an inflated home run rate. Yarbrough allowed 13 homers in just 64 innings of work despite an entirely manageable 6.9% barrel rate that was largely in line with his career norms. Yarbrough’s work in New York actually tied a career high (20.8%) for strikeout rate and saw him limit walks to a decent 7.2% clip. His 4.14 SIERA clocks in right around league average, as does his 4.30 xFIP.
While the specifics of the contract aren’t yet clear, re-upping for another year certainly seems to make sense for both sides. Signing this early in the offseason offers Yarbrough a level of certainty he wasn’t afforded last year while allowing the Yankees to build some depth into their rotation mix that will surely prove valuable headed into 2026. While the Yankees have a deep group of starting options with Gerrit Cole expected back from Tommy John surgery early next year plus Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, Will Warren and Cam Schlittler, it’s not hard to see why the team could use some additional depth.
Cole and Rodon both won’t be ready for Opening Day, while Clarke Schmidt is unlikely to be a factor until late in the year after his own Tommy John surgery. Gil appears to be healthy but has a lengthy injury history that could make relying on him for 30 starts a tall order as well. With so much uncertainty among that group, the addition of Yarbrough offers a steady veteran to offer roughly average production when filling those gaps. Yarbrough is more than comfortable bouncing between the rotation and bullpen after doing so throughout virtually his entire career, and having him available as a long relief arm could be valuable for a bullpen that figures to be searching for innings help after losing Devin Williams and Luke Weaver.
Whatever the cost of Yarbrough’s contract ends up being, it should serve as no impediment to the Yankees as they look to fill out the rest of their roster. The club has its work cut out for it this winter, as they’ll need to replace Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Paul Goldschmidt, and Amed Rosario (along with Williams and Weaver) as they head into free agency on top of whatever other upgrades the club is interested in making to its roster. Given Schmidt’s injury, perhaps even the addition of another starter could be on the table if the team wants to have young pitching to dangle in trade talks or have the luxury of being patient with Cole as he gets his elbow ready for game action next year.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported Yarbrough and the Yankees were closing in on a major league deal. Joel Sherman of The New York Post had the $2.5MM guarantee and $250K in bonuses. The Associated Press reported the bonus details.
Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images.
Jonathan Loáisiga Done For The Year
Yankees right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga has a flexor strain and won’t return this year. However, he is unlikely to require surgery, which perhaps bodes well for next year. Manager Aaron Boone provided the news to reporters including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic and Greg Joyce of The New York Post.
Loáisiga, 30, is a talented pitcher but he has often been held back by injuries. In 2023, he underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow and only pitched 17 2/3 innings that year. In April of 2024, he required internal brace surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow.
He reached free agency and the Yankees decided to sign him for 2025, even though he was still recovering from that surgery at the time. Before all the injuries popped up, Loáisiga had put up some good numbers. Over 2020 and 2021, for instance, he logged 93 2/3 innings with a 2.50 earned run average, 23.8% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 58.4% ground ball rate.
The Yanks were surely hoping that a clean bill of health could get him back to that level but it didn’t play out that way. He was reinstated from the injured list in mid-May but landed back on the IL due to mid-back tightness. He started a rehab assignment shortly thereafter but then suffered the flexor strain which has now ended his season. Around those injuries, he gave the Yankees 29 2/3 innings with a 4.25 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 50.5% ground ball rate.
The Yankees bolstered their bullpen ahead of the deadline by trading for David Bednar and Camilo Doval, adding those two to a group that already included Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and others. They recently welcomed Fernando Cruz back from his own IL stint. The relief corps has a 4.88 ERA in August but there’s lots of talent in there and they have a chance at righting the ship down the stretch and into the postseason. Getting a healthy Loáisiga in there could have helped but that won’t happen now.
The Yankees will have to make a decision about next year. Loáisiga’s $5MM deal came with a $4.5MM salary and $500K signing bonus, plus a $5MM club option for 2026 with no buyout. They were willing to place a $5MM bet on him last offseason but it’s possible his subpar performance this year pushed them away from doing so again. This injury presumably makes it even less likely they trigger the option. But they clearly like the player and he’s unlikely to require surgery, so perhaps they could re-sign him at a different price point.
Boone also relayed, per Kirschner, an update on lefty Ryan Yarbrough. The southpaw will likely be working out of the bullpen when he comes off the IL. He gave the Yanks some good results in a swing role earlier this year, making eight starts and eight relief appearances with a 3.90 ERA. Unfortunately, a right oblique strain put him on the IL in mid-June.
While Yarbrough has been away, Luis Gil returned from his own IL stint to retake a spot in the rotation. Also, Cam Schlittler came up from the minors and has been really good through his first eight starts. The rotation now features those two alongside Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Will Warren.
Yarbrough has been rehabbing lately and has been getting stretched out. His third and most-recent outing saw him toss 4 2/3 innings. But there’s not really a spot for him in the rotation, so the Yankees will seemingly put him in a long relief role. They also have Paul Blackburn doing long relief work and could cut him, though rosters expand in September, which will perhaps allow the club to roster both of them.
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Yankees Place Ryan Yarbrough On 15-Day Injured List
The Yankees placed left-hander Ryan Yarbrough on the 15-day injured list this morning due to a right oblique strain. Left-hander Jayvien Sandridge was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Sandridge would be making his MLB debut if he were to get into a game with the Yankees. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports that New York will recall right-hander Allan Winans to start tomorrow’s game against the Reds. Manager Aaron Boone later confirmed Winans’s impending start to reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com) and noted that Yarbrough’s oblique strain is a low-grade one.
Yarbrough, 33, is in the midst of his eighth big league season. After signing a minor league deal with the Blue Jays this offseason, the veteran did not make the club’s roster out of Spring Training and opted out before signing with the Yankees on a major league deal shortly before Opening Day. The lefty has been an essential arm for New York this year amid injuries throughout the starting rotation. He’s pitched to a 3.90 ERA in 55 1/3 innings of work split between eight starts and eight relief appearances. Since joining the rotation in early May, Yarbrough has posted a 3.83 ERA across 40 innings, with most of the damage against him coming as part of an early June start against the Red Sox where he was rocked for eight runs in four innings.
He’s allowed no more than two runs in his other seven starts, however, and generally been a very reliable back-of-the-rotation arm for the Yankees this year. That makes this a loss that’s particularly difficult for the club the stomach. Max Fried, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodon have managed to form an impressive front three in the rotation even with Gerrit Cole out of commission this year. Unfortunately, there’s been little certainty behind that group. Will Warren has excellent peripherals through 15 starts but an ugly 4.83 ERA. After a lackluster performances from Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco early in the year, Yarbrough helped to provide some stability to bring up the rear of the rotation.
They’ll need to look elsewhere for now, however, and it seems Winans will be the first player to get a crack at the opportunity. He’s yet to pitch in the majors for the Yankees since being claimed off from the Braves back in January and has a 7.20 ERA in eight career starts at the big league level. Despite those shaky results, he’s been utterly dominant at Triple-A this year with a 0.90 ERA in 50 innings of work. That was enough to earn him a big league call-up, and it’s not impossible to imagine him sticking in the rotation for at least a few starts if he performs well. Stroman is currently rehabbing in the minors, with a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 innings across two outings at Double-A, but will likely need to be built up more before he returns to the majors.
For now, Yarbrough’s roster spot will go to Sandridge. The 26-year-old lefty has put up somewhat middling numbers at the minor league level throughout his career but has looked utterly dominant in seven Triple-A innings this year. In that abbreviated sample, he’s allowed just one run (1.29 ERA) while striking out 46.4% of his opponents. Whether Sandridge is just on a hot streak or has unlocked a new level of play, the Yankees clearly felt it was worth giving themselves the option to see what he can do at the big league level while they have a roster spot to spare.
Yankees Sign Ryan Yarbrough
10:57am: The Yankees have formally announced the contract. Gil was placed on the 60-day IL to open a roster spot for Yarbrough.
9:45am: Yarbrough is guaranteed $2MM on the deal and can earn another $250K via incentives, ESPN’s Jorge Castillo reports. Since the Yankees are in the top tier of luxury penalization, that comes with a 110% tax. Yarbrough will cost them a total of $4.2MM.
9:16am: The Yankees and free agent left-hander Ryan Yarbrough have agreed to a major league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Excel Sports client opted out of a minor league deal with the division-rival Blue Jays over the weekend and was granted his release.
Yarbrough, 33, has spent the bulk of his career in the AL East, most of it with the Rays, for whom he pitched from 2018-22. He spent about half the 2024 season with the Jays, pitching well after coming over in a trade with the Dodgers. Yarbrough logged 31 1/3 frames with Toronto and notched a pristine 2.01 ERA with a 22.2% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate.
Yarbrough finished the ’24 season with a career-low 3.19 ERA in 98 2/3 innings, but that came with a paltry 16.3% strikeout rate and one of the tamest fastballs in the sport — averaging just 86.5 mph, per Statcast. Yarbrough sat 89-90 mph as a starter early in his career, but like new teammate Tim Hill, is now more reliant on an unusual delivery and soft contact. Yarbrough rarely allows hard contact (29.4%) and has plus command that helps him offset his lack of missed bats.
That reliance on soft contact does lead to some year-to-year inconsistencies in Yarbrough’s ERA, but the cumulative results have been solid. In 768 big league innings, Yarbrough has a 4.21 earned run average with an 18.7% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. His history as a starter and more recent track record as a multi-inning reliever — last year’s 98 2/3 frames came in 44 appearances — surely held appeal to a Yankees club that has seen its rotation plagued by injuries this spring. Yarbrough probably won’t step into the rotation at any point, but he’s a nice long man to have on hand at a time when rotation depth is thinner than expected. His addition on a big league deal likely pushes waiver claim and fellow southpaw Brent Headrick to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the season.
The Yankees will need to open a 40-man roster spot to make Yarbrough’s deal official, though given that just-mentioned slate of injuries, that shouldn’t be an issue. Gerrit Cole was already moved to the 60-day IL when the team selected Carlos Carrasco‘s contract over the weekend, but the Yankees still have multiple 60-day IL candidates. Luis Gil will miss months due to a lat strain, and while an exact timetable for Giancarlo Stanton‘s return from tendon injuries in both elbows, it doesn’t seem like he’s a candidate to make his 2025 debut anytime soon.
Ryan Yarbrough Opts Out Of Minors Deal With Blue Jays
TODAY: Yarbrough has now become a free agent, after being told he wasn’t making the Jays’ Opening Day roster, Davidi reports.
MARCH 21: Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough is going to trigger his upcoming opt-out in his minor league deal with the Blue Jays, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The team has until 1pm Central on Sunday to decide whether or not to add him to the roster. If they don’t give him a spot, he will become a free agent.
Yarbrough is an Article XX(b) free agent, which is any player with at least six years of service who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Such players have guaranteed opt-out dates on minor league deals signed at least ten days prior to Opening Day. The first of those opt-out dates is five days prior to Opening Day, which will be tomorrow. The others are May 1 and June 1. When a player triggers an opt-out, the club has 48 hours to decide how to respond.
The lefty has carved out a nice career for himself despite a lack of velo or punchouts. He has 768 big league innings under his belt so far, having allowed 4.21 earned runs per nine. His 18.7% strikeout rate is a few ticks below par but his 5.5% walk rate is quite good and his Statcast page shows that his average exit velocity and hard hit rate are regularly among the best in the league. Some of that work has come as a starter, some as a bulk guy behind an opener and some as a more traditional long reliever.
The Jays got a close-up look at him late last year, acquiring him from the Dodgers in a deadline swap for Kevin Kiermaier. Yarbrough tossed 31 1/3 innings over 12 relief appearances with a 2.01 ERA. He lingered on the market unsigned until the middle of February, when the Jays brought him back via a minor league deal. That deal reportedly pays him $2MM if he cracks the big leagues. In Grapefruit League action, he has tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowed three earned runs, with eight strikeouts and one walk.
The Jays project to have a rotation of José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis. If healthy, Max Scherzer would have a spot as well. He’s been dealing with some thumb soreness lately. That doesn’t sound too serious but thumb soreness seemed to be a symptom of a larger nerve problem in his arm last year.
Earlier today, manager John Schneider relayed to reporters that Scherzer will pitch for the Jays against the Twins in Fort Myers tomorrow. Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet was among those to relay the news. The skipper said that Scherzer wanted to make the two-hour bus ride in order to face real major league hitters. His aim is to throw 60 to 65 pitches and be on the roster to start the season if all goes well.
If Scherzer is healthy, then Yariel Rodríguez is likely in the bullpen as the long reliever. If not, then Rodríguez perhaps jumps into that fifth spot. It’s also possible that the Jays would prefer to have Yarbrough as a long man, but with Rodríguez pitching in a more traditional single-inning relief role. He posted a 1.15 ERA in that kind of role in Japan in 2022 but started for the Jays last year, posting a 4.47 ERA.
Perhaps the Jays will hold off making a decision on Yarbrough until they see how Scherzer pitches tomorrow and how he feels the day after. If they decide to add Yarbrough, they will have to make a corresponding move to get him onto the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
36 Veteran Players With Looming Opt-Out Dates
The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement implemented a new series of uniform opt-out dates for players who qualified as free agents under Article XX(b) of said agreement and sign a minor league deal in free agency. More specifically, that designation falls on players with six-plus years of MLB service time who finished the preceding season on a major league roster or injured list. Some contracts for players coming over from a foreign professional league like Nippon Professional Baseball or the Korea Baseball Organization will also have language written into their contracts allowing them to qualify as an XX(b) free agent despite a lack of six years of service.
The three uniform opt-out dates on those contracts land five days before Opening Day, on May 1 and on June 1. With the regular season set to kick off next week, any Article XX(b) free agents who are in camp on minor league contracts will have the opportunity to opt out on Saturday, March 22. A player triggering one of these out clauses gives his current club 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster or let him become a free agent.
There are other ways to secure opt-outs in contracts, of course. Many players who don’t qualify for XX(b) designation will still have opt-out opportunities negotiated into their minor league deals in free agency.
The following is a list of 36 players who are in camp as non-roster invitees and will be able to opt out this weekend. Most were XX(b) free agents, but there are a handful of names who didn’t meet that requirement but had outs negotiated into their respective deals nonetheless. This is not a comprehensive list of all players with opt-out opportunities this weekend.
All spring stats referenced are accurate through the completion of games played Wednesday, March 19.
Astros: LHP Jalen Beeks
Beeks, 31, was a relatively late sign (March 7) who’s since tossed three spring frames — including two scoreless innings just yesterday. He logged a 4.50 ERA in 70 innings between the Rockies and Pirates last season. He struggled to miss bats last year but typically runs strong strikeout rates. Dating back to 2020, Beeks carries a 4.16 ERA in 192 2/3 innings. In Josh Hader, Bryan King and Bennett Sousa, the Astros already have three lefty relievers on the 40-man. Another veteran non-roster invitee, Steven Okert, has rattled off 8 2/3 shutout spring innings with a 14-to-2 K/BB ratio. Beeks might have long odds of cracking the roster.
Blue Jays: RHP Jacob Barnes, LHP Ryan Yarbrough
The 34-year-old Barnes logged a 4.36 ERA in a career-high 66 big league innings last season. He posted an ERA north of 5.00 in each of the five preceding seasons (a total of 115 1/3 frames). He’s been tagged for four runs in 5 1/3 innings this spring.
Yarbrough, 33, had a terrific run with the Jays to close out the 2024 season. Joining Toronto in a deadline swap sending Kevin Kiermaier to the Dodgers, the veteran southpaw posted a 2.01 ERA in 31 1/3 innings. He’s a soft-tosser, sitting just 86.5 mph with his heater, but Yarbrough can pitch multiple innings in relief and has a decent track record even beyond last year’s overall 3.19 earned run average (4.21 ERA in 768 MLB innings). He’s allowed three runs with and 8-to-1 K/BB ratio in 6 2/3 innings in camp.
Braves: RHP Buck Farmer, RHP Hector Neris
Farmer was already reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday, so there’d seem to be a good chance of him taking his out. The 34-year-old turned in a terrific 3.04 ERA in 71 innings for the Reds last year but was probably hampered by his age, pedestrian velocity and subpar command in free agency. With a 3.68 ERA in 193 innings over the past three seasons in Cincinnati, he should find an opportunity somewhere — even if it’s not in Atlanta.
Neris is still in Braves camp. He signed well into camp and thus has only pitched one official inning so far, which was scoreless. (Neris is pitching today as well.) He’s looking to bounce back from a 4.10 ERA and a particularly poor performance in save opportunities last year. Prior to his nondescript 2024, Neris rattled off a 3.03 ERA in 208 innings from 2021-23 between Philly and Houston, saving 17 games and collecting 67 holds along the way.
Brewers: 1B/OF Mark Canha, OF Manuel Margot
He’s had a brutal spring, but the 36-year-old Canha has been an above-average hitter every year since 2018, by measure of wRC+. He’s just 2-for-23 in Brewers camp, but he’s slugged a homer and walked as often as he’s fanned (four times apiece). Milwaukee has Rhys Hoskins at first base, but Canha could chip in at DH and offer a right-handed complement to lefty outfielders Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell.
Margot hasn’t hit well in a tiny sample of 35 spring plate appearances, but he’s outproduced Canha with a .250/.314/.375 slash. He’s coming off a dismal .238/.289/.337 showing in Minnesota, however, and hasn’t been the plus defender he was prior to a major 2022 knee injury. Like Canha, he could complement Frelick and Mitchell as a righty-swinging outfielder, but Canha has been the far more productive bat in recent seasons.
Cubs: RHP Chris Flexen
The Cubs reassigned Flexen to minor league camp after just 3 2/3 innings this spring. He was hit hard on the other side of town with the White Sox in 2024, though Flexen quietly righted the ship after an awful start. He posted a 5.69 ERA through nine starts but logged a 4.62 mark over his final 21 trips to the mound, including a tidy 3.52 earned run average across 46 innings in his last eight starts. Flexen may not bounce back to his 2021-22 numbers in Seattle, but he’s a durable fifth starter if nothing else.
Diamondbacks: INF/OF Garrett Hampson, RHP Scott McGough
The D-backs don’t really have a backup shortstop while Blaze Alexander is sidelined with an oblique strain, which seems to bode well for Hampson. He’s hitting .235/.333/.324 in camp and can play three infield spots and three outfield positions. He had a bleak .230/.275/.300 performance in Kansas City last year but was a league-average hitter for the Marlins as recently as 2023.
McGough was reassigned to minor league camp yesterday after serving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings of spring work. That wasn’t the follow-up to last year’s gruesome 7.44 ERA for which the 35-year-old righty or the team had hoped.
Giants: C Max Stassi, RHP Lou Trivino
Stassi is battling Sam Huff, who’s on the 40-man, for the backup catcher’s role while Tom Murphy is injured. The 34-year-old Stassi is hitting .300/.364/.700 with a pair of homers in 22 spring plate appearances. He’s a plus defender with a scattershot track record at the plate.
Trivino hasn’t pitched since 2022 due to Tommy John surgery and a separate shoulder issue. He also hasn’t allowed a run in 8 1/3 spring innings. (9-to-4 K/BB ratio). Trivino’s scoreless Cactus League showing, his pre-injury track record and his familiarity with skipper Bob Melvin — his manager in Oakland — all seem to give him a real chance to win a spot.
Mariners: RHP Shintaro Fujinami, RHP Trevor Gott, 1B Rowdy Tellez
Fujinami’s command has never been good, and he’s walked more batters (seven) than he’s struck out (four) through 5 2/3 spring innings. He’s also plunked a pair of batters. He’s looking to bounce back from an injury-ruined 2024 season but might have to take his first steps toward doing so in Triple-A.
Tellez has had a big camp and looks like he could have a real chance to make the club in a part-time DH/first base role, as explored more yesterday. Gott is on the mend from Tommy John surgery performed last March and won’t pitch until midseason. He’s unlikely to opt out.
Mets: RHP Jose Ureña
Ureña was torched for seven runs in his first 1 1/3 spring innings after signing with the Mets on Feb. 27. He bounced back by striking out all three opponents he faced in an inning this past weekend, but he hasn’t helped himself otherwise. Ureña’s 3.80 ERA in 109 innings with Texas last year was his first sub-5.00 ERA since 2017-18 in Miami.
Padres: 1B Yuli Gurriel, INF Jose Iglesias
Both veterans have a legitimate chance to make the club. Gurriel has had a productive spring (.296/.321/.519) at nearly 41 years of age, while Iglesias is out to a 5-for-18 start since signing in mid-March. Gurriel could split time at first and DH, lessening the need to use Luis Arraez in the field. Iglesias could see frequent work at second base, shifting Jake Cronenworth to first base and pushing Arraez to DH. The Padres probably wouldn’t have put a hefty (relative to most minor league deals) $3MM base salary on Iglesias’ deal if they didn’t see a real path to him making the roster.
Pirates: LHP Ryan Borucki
Borucki was great for the Pirates in 2023 and struggled through 11 innings during an injury-marred 2024 season. The 30-year-old southpaw has allowed one run in eight spring innings. His five walks are a bit much, but he’s also fanned 11 of his 33 opponents.
Rangers: SS Nick Ahmed, RHP David Buchanan, RHP Jesse Chavez, OF Kevin Pillar, RHP Hunter Strickland
Ahmed has more homers in 28 spring plate appearances than he had in 228 plate appearances in 2024 or 210 plate appearances in 2023. He’s popped three round-trippers already and slashed .286/.310/.607. With a crowded infield and versatile backups like Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran, Ahmed might still have a hard time cracking the roster.
None of the three pitchers listed here has performed well in limited work. Buchanan had a nice run as a starter in the KBO in the four preceding seasons, while Chavez has been a mainstay in the Atlanta bullpen for much of the past few years. Strickland had a nice 2024 in Anaheim but signed very late and retired only one of the five batters he faced during his long spring outing.
Pillar may have the best chance of the bunch to make the team. He’s hitting .273/.333/.394 in 39 plate appearances. Outfielders Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia have been banged up this spring, so some extra outfield depth could make sense.
Rays: DH/OF Eloy Jimenez
Jimenez homered for the second time yesterday, boosting his Grapefruit line to .263/.300/.447. He’s coming off a dreadful season in 2024, but from 2019-23 the former top prospect raked at a .275/.324/.487 pace, including a 31-homer rookie campaign (admittedly, in the juiced-ball 2019 season). Durability has been a bigger factor than productivity. If the Rays can get Jimenez to elevate the ball more, he could be a bargain; he’s still only 28.
Red Sox: LHP Matt Moore, RHP Adam Ottavino
Moore signed on Feb. 20 and has only gotten into two spring games so far, totaling two innings. Ottavino has pitched four innings but allowed five runs. He’s walked five and tossed a pair of wild pitches in that time. Both pitchers have long MLB track records, but they’re both coming off lackluster seasons.
Reds: LHP Wade Miley
Miley underwent Tommy John surgery early last season and contemplated retirement upon learning his prognosis. He wanted to return to one of his former NL Central clubs in free agency, and the Reds clearly offered a more compelling minor league deal than the Brewers. He’s not going to be a realistic option until late May, and it seems unlikely he’d opt out while his rehab is still ongoing.
Rockies: RHP Jake Woodford
Woodford isn’t an Article XX(b) free agent, but MLBTR has learned that he still has a March 22 opt-out. He made his fourth appearance of Rockies camp yesterday, tossing 2 2/3 innings with an earned run. Woodford has allowed seven runs on 11 hits and three walks with five punchouts and a nice 47.2% grounder rate in 10 2/3 frames this spring. He has experience as a starter and reliever. The righty doesn’t miss many bats but keeps the ball on the ground and has good command. He’s a fifth starter/swingman who’s out of minor league options.
Royals: C Luke Maile, RHP Ross Stripling
Maile is a glove-first backup who’s had a nice spring at the plate but has done so on a team with a healthy Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin. His path to a roster spot doesn’t look great. Speculatively, his former Reds club, which just lost Tyler Stephenson to begin the year, would make sense if they plan to add an outside catcher. Maile’s .214/.294/.329 performance over the past three seasons is light, but he’s already familiar with the bulk of Cincinnati’s staff. He’s a fine backup or No. 3 catcher for any club, Kansas City included.
Stripling notched a 3.01 ERA in 124 innings for the 2022 Blue Jays, but it’s been rough waters since. He was rocked for a 5.68 ERA across the past two seasons, spending time with both Bay Area clubs, and has been tagged for 11 runs on 14 hits — four of them homers — with just two strikeouts in six spring frames. He’ll likely need a strong Triple-A showing, be it with the Royals or another club, to pitch his way back to the majors.
Tigers: LHP Andrew Chafin
Chafin surprisingly commanded only a minor league deal this offseason and has struggled to begin his third stint with the Tigers. He’s been tagged for eight runs in four spring innings, walking six batters along the way. It’s a rough look, but the affable southpaw notched a 3.51 ERA in 56 1/3 MLB frames last year and touts a 3.12 mark across the past four seasons combined.
White Sox: RHP Mike Clevinger, INF Brandon Drury, OF Travis Jankowski
The ChiSox signed Clevinger for a third time late this spring and are trying him in the bullpen. He’s responded with four shutout innings, allowing only one hit and no walks while fanning six hitters. His 2025 White Sox reunion is out to a much better start than his 2024 reunion, wherein he was limited to only 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA thanks to elbow and neck troubles.
Drury could hardly be doing more to secure a spot with the Pale Hose. He’s decimated Cactus League pitching at a .410/.439/.821 pace, slugging three homers and seven doubles in only 41 plate appearances. He’s coming off a terrible 2024 showing with the Angels but hit .263/.313/.493 from 2021-23. It’d be a surprise if the Sox didn’t keep him.
Jankowski started the spring with the Cubs, was granted his release and signed with the Sox. The hits haven’t been dropping, but he has six walks in 25 plate appearances. The White Sox already have Michael A. Taylor in a fourth outfield role. Andrew Benintendi, who missed three-plus weeks with a fractured hand, was back in the lineup yesterday, making Jankowski something of a long shot.
Yankees: RHP Carlos Carrasco
With a nice spring showing and several injuries in the Yankees’ rotation, Carrasco looks to have a good chance at making the roster. Jack Curry of the YES Network already reported it’s “likely” Carrasco will be added this weekend. Carrasco has a 1.69 ERA with 15 strikeouts and seven walks (plus four hit batters) in 16 spring innings. He tossed five shutout frames yesterday.
Salary Details For Several Minor League Deals
Every offseason, the primary focus for baseball fans is on trades and free agent activity. Naturally, major league free agent signings garner the majority of the attention and generate the most buzz. Minor league signees come with less fanfare, typically with good reason. They tend to be older veterans who are looking to extend their playing careers or perhaps younger names looking to rebound from an injury or a disappointing showing the prior season (sometimes the prior few seasons).
As spring training progresses, we’re seeing an uptick in minor league signings. Free agents who’ve lingered on the market and felt their leverage in negotiations dry up begin to concede and accept non-guaranteed pacts to get to camp in hopes of winning a roster spot.
Salary details for minor league signees isn’t as prominently reported on as it is for players signing guaranteed big league deals. The Associated Press just published a list of free agent signings throughout the winter, including within salary details for a handful of (mostly) recent minor league signings. Many of the salaries reported by the AP were already known and reflected here at MLBTR, but the report does include more than two dozen previously unreported base salaries for players on minor league deals. Here’s a quick rundown (player salary links point back to prior MLBTR posts detailing that minor league signing):
Blue Jays: Jacob Barnes, RHP, $1.4MM | Ryan Yarbrough, LHP, $2MM
Braves: Curt Casali, C, $1.25MM | Buck Farmer, RHP, $1MM
Brewers: Manuel Margot, OF, $1.3MM | Mark Canha, 1B/OF, $1.4MM
Cubs: Brooks Kriske, RHP, $900K | Travis Jankowski, OF, $1.25MM | Chris Flexen, RHP, $1.5MM
Diamondbacks: Garrett Hampson, INF/OF, $1.5MM | Scott McGough, RHP, $1.25MM
Dodgers: Luis Garcia, RHP, $1.5MM
Giants: Lou Trivino, RHP, $1.5MM
Mariners: Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, $1.3MM | Trevor Gott, RHP, $1.35MM
Padres: Yuli Gurriel, 1B, $1.35MM ($100K higher than initially reported)
Rangers: Nick Ahmed, SS, $1.25MM | Jesse Chavez, RHP, $1.25MM | David Buchanan, RHP, $1.375MM | Kevin Pillar, OF, $1MM
Red Sox: Matt Moore, LHP, $2MM
Royals: Luke Maile, C, $2MM | Ross Stripling, RHP, $1.75MM
White Sox: Brandon Drury, INF/OF, $2MM | Mike Clevinger, RHP, $1.5MM
A few things bear emphasizing. First, this is clearly not a comprehensive list of minor league signings throughout the league — nor is it even a comprehensive list of the listed teams’ non-roster invitees to camp. Secondly, many of these sums are of little consequence to the team. They’re not even guaranteed, after all, and even if a player makes the Opening Day roster and earns the full slate of his minor league salary, most of these salaries aren’t going to carry significant payroll ramifications.
That’s not true across the board, though. For instance, the Rangers are fully intent on remaining under the $241MM luxury tax threshold. At present, RosterResource projects them at $235.7MM of luxury obligations. Opting to select the contract of Buchanan or Chavez rather than allocating those innings to pre-arbitration players who’s being paid at league-minimum levels (or a few thousand dollars north of it) would inch the Rangers’ CBT number forward. They’re not going to hit the tax line even in if they wind up adding multiple NRIs to the actual roster, but selecting their contracts will further narrow the resources president of baseball ops Chris Young will have at his disposal for midseason dealings.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, are effectively seated right at the tax threshold. RosterResource has them with $241.4MM of luxury considerations. Team president Sam Kennedy said after signing Alex Bregman that he expects his team will be a CBT payor in 2025. As things stand, the Sox could duck back under that threshold, but selecting the contract of Moore, Adam Ottavino (also $2MM) or another prominent NRI would further signal ownership’s willingness to return to luxury tax status for the first time since 2022.
There’s probably no getting back under the tax line for the Blue Jays, who currently have a $273.3MM CBT number. However, the front office would presumably like to avoid reaching $281MM in tax obligations, as that’s the point at which Toronto’s top pick in the 2026 draft would be dropped by ten spots. In-season trades will have more of an effect on their tax number than decisions on NRIs like Barnes, Yarbrough, Eric Lauer and others, but it bears mentioning that the Blue Jays are around $8MM shy of what many clubs consider to be the most detrimental impact of straying to deep into CBT waters.
Blue Jays To Sign Ryan Yarbrough To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Excel Sports Management client also receives an invite to spring training.
Yarbrough, 33, finished out the 2024 season with the Jays. Toronto flipped outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and cash to the Dodgers at last year’s deadline, with Yarbrough heading the other way in that deal. The southpaw filled a long relief role for the Jays after that swap, logging 31 1/3 innings over 12 appearances, allowing just 2.01 earned runs per nine.
The lefty doesn’t throw hard, averaging just 86.5 miles per hour on his fastball last year, but has carved out a big league career as a swingman mostly based on engineering soft contact from opponents. Over the past seven seasons, he has spent time with the Rays, Royals, Dodgers and Jays. He has appeared in 196 games, with only 68 of those technically being starts, though many of his relief outings have been lengthy appearances behind an opener.
Overall, he has a 4.21 ERA in 768 big league innings. His 18.7% strikeout rate is subpar but his 5.5% walk rate is very good. He has allowed an average exit velocity of 85.1 miles per hour, which is more than three ticks better than average. Statcast has put him in the 97th percentile or better in that category in each season of his career. His 28% hard hit rate is more than eight percentage points better than par. In that category, Statcast has put him in the 94th percentile in each season of his career.
The Blue Jays have four veterans locked into their rotation, with Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt each having spots. It seems likely that Bowden Francis will get a shot to be the fifth starter after he posted a 1.53 ERA in his final nine starts of the 2024 season. That could push Yariel Rodríguez, who started for the Jays last year, into a bullpen role. The Cuban righty previously had success as a reliever in Japan. However, Francis still has an option and could technically be sent to Triple-A to start the year.
In terms of depth, the Jays have Jake Bloss and Adam Macko on the 40-man roster, but Macko just underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out for an undetermined amount of time. Eric Lauer and Adam Kloffenstein are in camp as non-roster invitees. Yarbrough will give the club a bit of extra non-roster depth for its staff and could perhaps earn a role as a long reliever out of the bullpen if his contract is selected.
Yarbrough is an Article XX(b) free agent since he has at least six years of major league service and finished the previous season on a 40-man roster or 60-day injured list. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, players in that camp who sign minor league deals more than ten days prior to Opening Day get uniform opt-outs. Those opt-out chances are five days before Opening Day, as well as May 1st and June 1st.
Dodgers Acquire Kevin Kiermaier
The Dodgers acquired Kevin Kiermaier and cash considerations from the Blue Jays for lefty reliever Ryan Yarbrough. Toronto is reportedly paying down $1.66MM of Kiermaier’s remaining salary.
Kiermaier, 34, is in the midst of a thoroughly disappointing season, batting .195 with a .546 OPS. While his defense in the outfield has been stellar as always (10 OAA, 9 DRS), it has not been enough to make up for his career-worst offensive numbers. He has been worth just 0.2 Wins Above Replacement according to FanGraphs. The four-time Gold Glove winner went unclaimed on waivers earlier this month, with no team willing to claim him and take the remaining portion of his $10.5MM salary off of the Blue Jays’ books. Now, however, just over two weeks later, the Jays found a club willing to take Kiermaier off their hands, and they got a left-handed long-man for the bullpen in return.
The Dodgers have not gotten much production from the center field position this year, ranking 27th in OPS and wRC+ and dead last in FanGraphs WAR. James Outman has struggled to replicate his success from his excellent rookie season in 2023, while top prospect Andy Pages has underwhelmed at the plate (.675 OPS, 92 wRC+) and in the field (-8 DRS, -1 OAA). Kiermaier won’t help the offense, but he will be a terrific defensive replacement off the bench. What’s more, if there is any team that can put up with his bat in the starting lineup on occasion, it’s the Dodgers, who lead the NL in OPS and wRC+ despite mediocre production from center field all season.
Kiermaier has already announced his intention to retire following the 2024 campaign. Joining the powerhouse Dodgers will give him one more chance to compete for a World Series championship, an accomplishment that has eluded him throughout his 12-year career with the Rays and Blue Jays. Kiermaier went 7-for-19 with a 1.137 OPS in the 2020 World Series, but despite his efforts, the Rays fell to the Dodgers in six games.
As for the Blue Jays, they have elite defender Daulton Varsho to slide into center field, and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports that lefty batting outfielder/first baseman Joey Loperfido, acquired from the Astros in the Yusei Kikuchi deal, will take Kiermaier’s spot on the active roster. Presumably, Loperfido will take over from Varsho in left field, at least in games with a right-handed starting pitcher. Meanwhile, Yarbrough should slot in as a reinforcement for a Blue Jays bullpen that has lost several contributors in recent days, including Yimi García, Trevor Richards, and Nate Pearson. Toronto may be out of contention this year, but the team still needs live arms to get through the season.
Yarbrough, 32, was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on Monday. While his 3.74 ERA this season is respectable, he has the lowest strikeout rate (13.9%) and the highest walk rate (8.9%) of his career. His 4.98 SIERA would also be a career-worst. That said, his ability to pitch multiple innings and his recent work as a starter (he started nine games in 2023, nine in 2022, and 21 in 2021) will make him an asset for a last-place Blue Jays team that is simply looking to get through the rest of the season without further embarrassment. Like Kiermaier, Yarbrough will be a free agent at the end of the year.
Robert Murray of FanSided reported the Dodgers and Jays were swapping Kiermaier and Yarbrough. Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the cash considerations.