You can never have enough pitching depth on your team.
Just ask any team that has been hit with multiple pitching injuries in recent years, and they’ll tell you that pitching depth is as important as anything else in baseball.
The New York Yankees are certainly operating that way right now, as they’ve picked up a former ace off the scrap heap.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Yankees have come to an agreement with former Cleveland Indians ace Danny Salazar on a minor league deal.
The right-hander has not pitched in the big leagues since the 2019 season.
Yankees sign veteran righthander Danny Salazar to minors deal @mikedeportes 1st
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 13, 2022
Salazar Gets Another Chance
This could be a good move for the Yankees.
As mentioned above, it’s been since 2019 that Salazar has actually appeared in a Major League game.
He started one game for the Indians that year and gave up two runs over four innings.
Salazar came up with Cleveland in 2013 and became a fixture in their starting rotation next to Corey Kluber.
His best season was in 2015, when he went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA.
He began to struggle a little bit in 2017 and missed the entire 2018 season before coming back in 2019 for just one start.
Perhaps enough time has passed for him to regain his form.
This could be a low-risk, high-reward move for the Yankees.
They’re taking a chance on a guy who hasn’t pitched in a few years.
Maybe it could work out for them.
For now, it’s just a minor league deal and he will have to earn his spot with the big-league club.
More than anything, it’s a simple depth move for a team that has been short on starting pitching in recent years.
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