Yankees Notes for 2/4

Other posts:

Cody Bellinger thoughts
Ryan Weathers acquisition
2/4, Part 2

I am working on a Top 30 prospects list. I hope to finish that before Spring Training. Depends how motivated I am every day.

1. Update on players designated for assignment

Outfielder Michael Siani was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers. This will be his second stint with the Dodgers this offseason, and there’s no guarantee he will stick. Siani is a defense-first outfielder who is perfect for roster depth, but his bat keeps him on the fringes of 40-man rosters.

LHP Jayvien Sandridge was traded to the Angels for cash considerations.

The Yankees were able to retain UTIL Marco Luciano, outrighting him to Scranton. This means he passed through waivers. Sometimes, a player who clears waivers and is outrighted can refuse the assignment and declare free agency. Luciano hasn’t yet earned that right.

Bottom Line:

As I mentioned in another post, teams sometimes claim players for this reason. They may feel as if the player has no chance to stick on the 40-man roster for long, but hope they can sneak him through waivers.

2. Former Yankees on the move

C Ben Rortvedt, a piece of the ill-fated Josh Donaldson/Isiah Kiner-Falefa deal, was designated for assignment by the Reds (to make room for Eugenio Suarez). There was a time when people thought this was a sneaky get for the Yankees, but life in MLB hasn’t worked out for him. He owns a .190/.279/.270 (57 OPS+) in 633 plate appearances with a 25.1% K rate. His career fWAR is 1.2 in 227 games. He is lucky his defense grades out well.

1B/3B Jeimer Candelario, who spent time in Scranton last season, has signed a minor-league deal with the Angels. Candelario was a 3.0+ fWAR player in 2022 and 2023 but has fallen off considerably since.

Finally, LHP Ken Waldichuk, one of four prospects sent to the Athletics for Frankie Montas, was designated for assignment by the Rays. In 42 games (29 starts) for the Athletics between 2022 and 2023, Waldichuk compiled a 5.28 ERA in 175.2 innings, with a 21% K rate and a 10.3% BB rate.

After returning from injury in 2025, he spent time in the minors. Life didn’t go well, as he pitched to an 8.17 ERA in 54 innings with a 68/42 K/BB.

Before 2023, he started showing up on Top 100 Prospects lists, and someone is bound to take a chance on him. The hope for any team signing him is that his dreadful 2025 campaign was due to rust.

3. The Yankees release some minor league talent

The following prospects were released from their contracts:

C Edison Vivas (Hudson Valley)
C Johan Contreras (Tampa)
2B Gabriel Terrero (FCL)
OF Angel Ventura (DSL)
OF Remy Veldhuisen (DSL)
RHP Wilfrido Bido (DSL)
RHP Jose Rosario (DSL)
RHP Michell Chirinos (DSL)

Playing for the DSL squad in his 2023 debut campaign, Terrero hit .299/.407/.533 with seven home runs in 37 games.  Over the last two seasons, while playing for the FCL squad, he hit .265/.368/.394 in 82 games while stealing 23 bases in 24 attempts. He stands out the most from the group as a $100,000 international signee.

While listed as a Hudson Valley release, Vivas only played one game at that level.  Contreras played four seasons in the DSL/FCL, hitting .217/.338/.308 in 100 games. In other words, while I talk about the Yankees’ needing catching depth, Vivas and Contrares were destined for an organizational role at most.

Bido hasn’t pitched since 2023. He showed promise in his 2022 debut with the DSL squad, compiling a 1.96 ERA in 36.2 innings.  Meanwhile, Rosario pitched in 15 DSL games in 2024, compiling a 9.00 ERA, while Chirinos pitched to a 4.87 ERA in 61 innings between 2023 and 2024.

Veldhuisen hit well in the DSL, putting up a .284/.441/.364 triple slash in 68 games. That said, he turns 21 in two weeks. Ventura is a speedster who hit .260/.378/.327 in 249 plate appearances in the DSL. He stole 39 bases in 44 attempts.

Bottom Line:

To be blunt, it’s a case of out with the old, in with the new. While there is always hope for catchers (every organization needs depth), it is unlikely we will hear much about these prospects.

4. Brendan Donovan traded to the Mariners

The Yankees reportedly had interest in Donovan, and why not? He can play multiple positions and has a good bat to go with it (.287/.353/.422 in 515 plate appearances in 2025). He was worth 3.2 fWAR in 2024 and 2.9 in 2025, with his offense grading out higher than his defense.  He isn’t great at any one position, but he is serviceable.

The Yankees likely had interest as a fallback plan if they couldn’t sign Cody Bellinger. Donovan is too good for a part-time role and is a left-handed bat. Finding playing time for him would have been tough, if not nearly impossible.

The Cardinals received an intriguing switch-pitcher as part of the return. Jurrangelo Cijntje, a Top 100 prospect (Pipeline), was the Mariners’ first-round pick in the 2024 draft (Mississippi State). In his first professional campaign, he was promoted to Double-A. He showed he belonged, pitching to a 2.67 ERA in 33.2 innings with a 37/16 K/BB. Reportedly, the Mariners were going to have him focus on pitching right-handed in 2026. We’ll see what the Cardinals think. The Cardinals also received a pair of outfield prospects and two Competitive Balance picks (#68 and #72). The #72 pick was acquired from the Rays, who were the third team involved in the deal.

Bottom Line:

Donovan is a fun player. He wasn’t a perfect fit for the Yankees, given that he bats left-handed and had no clear path to playing time.

5. The Yankees have interest in RHP Nick Martinez and OF Austin Slater

I noted Slater in my last post as a player the Yankees seemingly had moved on from. However, Brendan Kuty reported that not only are the Yankees interested, but they also made an offer early in the off-season. Who knew? Not me.

Martinez is a swingman. In 40 appearances (26 starts) for the 2025 Reds, he went 11-14 with a 4.45 ERA (4.33 FIP) over 165.2 innings. He owned a 17% K and 6.1% BB. In 2024, he compiled a 3.10 ERA (3.21 FIP) over 142.1 innings, with a 20.4% K and 3.2% BB. Among pitchers who tossed 140+ innings, his BB% was second-lowest in baseball.

Bottom Line:

The Yankees have two swingmen signed for 2026 (Ryan Yarbrough, Paul Blackburn), with the possibility of Ryan Weathers eventually moving to a similar role. You can never have too much pitching, but it’s fair to ask where Martinez would fit into the equation.

As for Slater, the Yankees’ Opening Day roster is nearly set in stone. There is one slot open for as long as Anthony Volpe is out and everyone else stays healthy (Giancarlo Stanton is on the team, after all)