Yankees Notes and Opinions for 12/15
Past articles:
Rule 5 Analysis
12/11/25
12/9/25
12/5/25
12/2/25
11/28/25
11/25/25
11/18/25
11/15/25
11/7/25
10/30/25
Japanese Free Agents
Rule 5 Primer
1. The Yankees sign Amed Rosario
To me, this seemed like one of the easiest moves to make this winter.
The Yankees targeted Rosario for a while before finally landing him at the 2025 trade deadline. Before the 2024 season, they pursued him, but he went to Tampa Bay, thinking he would get more playing time (he was right).
Due to an untimely injury, Rosario only played in 16 games after being acquired, going 10-for-33 with a home run. He followed that up by going 3-for-10 with a double and an RBI in the postseason. He had a key hit in Game 3 against the Red Sox, driving home the first run in the decisive 4-run fourth inning.
Rosario offers a solid bat against left-handed pitching and defensive versatility. For the Yankees, he played a game at second base, nine at third base, and five in right field. He has played every position except catcher and first base during his career, though all 18 of his center field appearances came with the 2021 Guardians. He isn’t a shortstop anymore, but you can play him there in a pinch.
As you can see, he has never played a game at first base. Depending on how the rest of the off-season goes, the Yankees would be prudent to give him reps there this spring.
Bottom Line:
Rosario is a good bench piece who will help the Yankees against left-handed pitching. The Yankees should limit his at-bats against right-handed pitchers (.231/.275/.338 in 2025), even though his career numbers are a more respectable .262/.295/.372.
With Rosario, Jose Caballero, and the returning Oswaldo Cabrera, the Yankees don’t lack versatility. However, since they will carry 13 pitchers, there are only four bench slots available. I’m not sure the Yankees are comfortable with Ben Rice as both their primary first baseman and backup catcher, though they played a significant part of the season with that arrangement.
Either way, even though Rosario, Caballero, and Cabrera can handle the outfield, the roster as it stands lacks a true fourth outfielder.
Due to Anthony Volpe‘s injury, there won’t be an early-season roster crunch. If a crunch eventually occurs, Cabrera and Caballero have options. I don’t expect the Yankees to use an option on Caballero.
2. The Yankees sign RHP Drake Fellows to a minor league contract
The Yankees continue to load up on arms for a potential bullpen competition.
Fellows, who will be 28 on Opening Day, has yet to make his MLB debut. Drafted in the 6th round in 2019 by the Padres out of Vanderbilt, he pitched to a 4.41 ERA (4.46 FIP) over 112.1 innings for the Pirates’ Triple-A club in 2025. He had a 41.9% GB, 19.5% K, and 9.5% BB.
Fellows is a big kid who has trouble missing bats. Maybe moving to a bullpen role can help. Fangraphs mentions that he has a good slider, but he has never appeared on the Pipeline Top 30 list.
Bottom Line:
It is easy to make fun of these moves, but every team does them. If Fellows can’t cut it in the bullpen, he can be Triple-A starter depth.
3. The Yankees sign 1B/OF Ernesto Martinez Jr.
If the Knicks need some power forward depth this winter, perhaps they should call the Yankees.
Martinez, who stands 6’6″ and weighs 254 pounds, has spent his entire career (2017-2025) in the Brewers organization. In 2025, the 26-year-old received his first taste of Triple-A, hitting .255/.357/.388 (104 wRC+) in 311 plate appearances for Nashville. After stealing as many as 30 bases (2021), he went 1-for-4 in that category in 2025.
While he is listed as a first baseman/outfielder, we can probably delete the “outfielder” part. He spent the entire season at first base and has only 12 games of outfield experience in his career.
Martinez was once a coveted international prospect, signing for $925,000 in 2017 (For reference, the article lists $925,000, while FanGraphs reports $800,000.)
As an interesting tidbit, Martinez, who is Cuban, was a member of the French national team during the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifiers. He barely played (0-for-3) but was the youngest member of the team and got to play with his father.
His deal with the Yankees includes an invite to spring training and opt-outs.
Bottom Line:
Most prospects fail. Most international teenagers don’t even get this far, though those with big signing bonuses typically get longer leashes.
Before the 2025 season, Fangraphs ranked him as the 20th-best Brewers’ prospect, projecting a 2026 MLB debut. Interestingly, he was one spot ahead of Caleb Durbin.
The Brewers obviously didn’t share in Fangraphs’ enthusiasm, as they didn’t attempt to block him from entering minor league free agency. If he doesn’t opt out, he will get some at-bats in Scranton as a 1B/DH, though perhaps they will try him in the outfield again. There isn’t much of a fit on the big league roster, barring something catastrophic (ie, the minor league complex caves in, and he happened to sleep in that morning).
4. The Yankees considering Michael King?
On one hand, King is a good pitcher when he is healthy. On the other hand, he rarely gets through a season healthy.
King, a gem of an acquisition by Brian Cashman in 2017 for Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith, pitched to a 3.38 ERA (3.34 FIP) over 247.2 innings before being dealt to the Padres in the Juan Soto transaction. He continued to pitch well for the Padres, compiling a 3.10 ERA (3.65 FIP) in 247 innings, including a 7th-place finish in the 2024 Cy Young Award race.
In 2025, however, King suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of action for several months. After returning on August 9th, he suffered a knee injury that kept him out until September. Previously, he had an elbow injury that cut his 2022 season short, though he was able to return for Opening Day in 2023.
Concerns that he will struggle to get through a full season are justified. While true of all pitchers, those with a history will always be put under a larger microscope.
The Padres were still willing to take a risk on King for another year, as they attached a qualifying offer to him. He bet on himself by turning it down, and that seems like a prudent idea.
Bottom Line:
Everything is a contradiction. One report will say the Yankees are happy with their starting pitching, while another report will tell you they are still looking to buy some more. It could be as simple as kicking the tires, especially with the Red Sox and Orioles reportedly involved. But the Yankees didn’t want to give up King in the Soto deal, so it makes sense that they are open to bringing him back.
You can’t play the “What happens when everyone is healthy?” game. We all know the story about how the Mets couldn’t even get through a full rotation round of Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz. The Yankees have legitimate injury concerns. Bolstering their staff makes sense, even if I suspect they’re hesitant to take on a fourth major contract.
The same goes for the rumor linking them to Tatsuya Imai.
5. The Yankees are interested in LHP JoJo Romero
In 25 games for the Phillies from 2020 to 2022, Romero owned a 7.89 ERA (6.41 FIP) over 21.2 innings.
Since being acquired by the Cardinals, he has flipped the script on his career, compiling a 3.00 ERA (3.50 FIP) over 192.2 innings.
In 2025, he had his best season to date, compiling a 2.07 ERA (3.28 FIP) over 61 innings, accompanied by an impressive 55.4% ground ball rate. However, his strikeout (21.6%) and walk (11.4%) rates weren’t quite as remarkable.
Romero is estimated to make a decent $5.8 million in 2026 and will be a free agent when the season concludes. That should reduce his prospect cost.
Bottom Line:
The Yankees are casting a wide net to fill in their bullpen holes. The current setup includes two lefties (Tim Hill and Brent Headrick). Since Headrick is far from a sure thing (and still has a minor league option), adding Romero can balance the bullpen somewhat.
Is he the power lefty many would like them to add? No. He does rack up more strikeouts than Hill (heck, everyone reading this has a higher strikeout rate than Hill), but he’s still more of a ground-ball specialist than a true swing-and-miss pitcher.
The Yankees are unlikely to spend big on a free agent reliever (many of the priciest relievers are off the board, anyway), so trades make sense.