7:06 p.m.: New York also released a lefty reliever Clayton Andrews, according to the trade log on MLB.com. The Yankees had designated him active last week when they signed him Tim Hill. Andrews, 27, has made just one major league appearance this year. He pitched 24 2/3 innings at Scranton, allowing a 5.84 earned run average. The former Brewer managed solid hitting and low strikeouts but walked more than one-fifth of the batters faced.
New York has released Andrews twice this season. Players with multiple outrights have the ability to opt for free agency instead of going back to Triple-A. It is unclear whether he will do so.
2:51 p.m.: The Yankees announced Wednesday that he is a lefty Victor Gonzalez went through a complete no-claimer and was assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was assigned to work last week. The southpaw has enough major league service time to decline the assignment but not enough to retain the remainder of his $860K salary when he opts for free agency, so he will likely accept the assignment.
Gonzalez, 28, came to the Yankees alongside a minor league pitcher Jorbit Vivas in an offseason trade that sent a minor league player Trey Sweeney back to the Dodgers. His time in the league did not go as he had hoped. While Gonzalez posted a solid 3.86 earned run average in 23 1/3 frames, he did so while issuing more walks (13.4%) than strikeouts (11.3%). He continued to post terrific groundball numbers (55.1%), but this is the fourth straight season his strikeout rate has declined. His average velocity of 93.3 mph on his once 95 mph sinker also marked a career low.
Coming off the Dodgers in 2020, Gonzalez looked like a potential bullpen powerhouse. Armed with that 95 mph fastball lock, he threw 20 1/3 innings of 1.33 ERA ball with an excellent 28.7% strikeout rate against a microscopic 2.5% walk rate – all while pitching -grounders at a whopping 69.2% clip.
Injuries have hampered him since that game and limited his repertoire, however. He dealt with plantar fasciitis, knee problems and especially elbow inflammation which eventually led to arthroscopic surgery. In the three and a half seasons since that first standout effort, Gonzalez has totaled 136 innings (including majors and minors).
Gonzalez was out of minor league options, so the Yankees had no choice but to assign him if they wanted a chance to send him to the minors. He will now head to Triple-A and try to get another look later in the season. He’ll need to be added back to the 40-man roster for that to happen, of course. Failing that, Gonzalez will be eligible to become a junior free agent at the end of the season, given his status as a player with three or more years of service removed from the 40-man roster.
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