7:06pm: New York also outrighted lefty reliever Clayton Andrews, per the transactions log at MLB.com. The Yankees had designated him for assignment last week when they signed Tim Hill. Andrews, 27, has only made one big league appearance this year. He has logged 24 2/3 frames in Scranton, allowing a 5.84 earned run average. The former Brewer has managed solid strikeout and grounder rates but walked more than one-fifth of batters faced.
New York has outrighted Andrews twice this season. Players with multiple outrights have the ability to elect free agency instead of heading back to Triple-A. It’s not clear whether he will do so.
2:51pm: The Yankees announced Wednesday that left-hander Victor Gonzalez passed through outright waivers unclaimed and has been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was designated for assignment last week. The southpaw has enough big league service time to reject the assignment but not enough to retain the remainder of his $860K salary upon electing free agency, so he’ll likely accept the assignment.
Gonzalez, 28, came to the Yankees alongside minor league infielder Jorbit Vivas in an offseason trade that sent minor league infielder Trey Sweeney back to the Dodgers. His time on the big league roster didn’t go as 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 ground-ball numbers (55.1%), but this is the fourth straight season his strikeout rate has dropped. His 93.3 mph average velocity on his once 95-mph sinker also marked a career-low.
Debuting with the Dodgers back in 2020, Gonzalez looked like a potential bullpen powerhouse. Armed with that then-95-mph bowling ball sinker, he pitched 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 inducing grounders at a mammoth 69.2% clip.
Injuries have hobbled him since that debut and sapped his repertoire, however. He’s dealt with plantar fasciitis, knee troubles and most notably a bout of elbow inflammation that eventually led to arthroscopic surgery. In three and a half seasons since that outstanding debut effort, Gonzalez has combined for a total of 136 innings (majors and minors included).
Gonzalez was out of minor league options, so the Yankees had no choice but to designate him for assignment if they wanted the chance to send him to the minors. He’ll now head to Triple-A and try to earn another look later in the season. He’d need to be re-added to the 40-man roster for that to happen, of course. Failing that, Gonzalez will have the right to become a minor league free agent at season’s end, given his status as a player with three-plus years of service who was outrighted off a 40-man roster.
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