9:45am: Yarbrough is assured $2MM on the deal and might earn one other $500K by way of incentives, ESPN’s Jorge Castillo stories. Because the Yankees are within the prime tier of luxurious penalization, that comes with a 110% tax. Yarbrough will value them a complete of $4.2MM.
9:16am: The Yankees and free agent left-hander Ryan Yarbrough have agreed to a significant league contract, stories Robert Murray of FanSided. The Excel Sports activities shopper opted out of a minor league cope with the division-rival Blue Jays over the weekend and was granted his launch.
Yarbrough, 33, has spent the majority of his profession within 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 properly after coming over in a commerce with the Dodgers. Yarbrough logged 31 1/3 frames with Toronto and notched a pristine 2.01 ERA with a 22.2% strikeout charge and 6% stroll charge.
Yarbrough completed the ’24 season with a career-low 3.19 ERA in 98 2/3 innings, however that got here with a paltry 16.3% strikeout charge and one of many tamest fastballs within the sport — averaging simply 86.5 mph, per Statcast. Yarbrough sat 89-90 mph as a starter early in his profession, however like new teammate Tim Hill, is now extra reliant on an uncommon supply and delicate contact. Yarbrough hardly ever permits exhausting contact (29.4%) and has plus command that helps him offset his lack of missed bats.
That reliance on delicate contact does result in some year-to-year inconsistencies in Yarbrough’s ERA, however the cumulative outcomes have been stable. In 768 large league innings, Yarbrough has a 4.21 earned run common with an 18.7% strikeout charge and 5.5% stroll charge. His historical past as a starter and more moderen monitor file as a multi-inning reliever — final yr’s 98 2/3 frames got here in 44 appearances — certainly held enchantment to a Yankees membership that has seen its rotation stricken by accidents this spring. Yarbrough in all probability gained’t step into the rotation at any level, however he’s a pleasant lengthy man to have readily available at a time when rotation depth is thinner than anticipated. His addition on an enormous league deal probably pushes waiver declare and fellow southpaw Brent Headrick to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start the season.
The Yankees might want to open a 40-man roster spot to make Yarbrough’s deal official, although on condition that just-mentioned slate of accidents, that shouldn’t be a difficulty. Gerrit Cole was already moved to the 60-day IL when the group chosen Carlos Carrasco’s contract over the weekend, however the Yankees nonetheless have a number of 60-day IL candidates. Luis Gil will miss months attributable to a lat pressure, and whereas an actual timetable for Giancarlo Stanton’s return from tendon accidents in each elbows, it doesn’t look like he’s a candidate to make his 2025 debut anytime quickly.
