The likelihood that the Yankees will add another reliever has been there ever since it was announced that Wandy Peralta and Keynan Middleton would not be making their way back to New York. Although reunions with those two players had been discussed, they never materialized. Instead, they’re traveling to St. Louis and San Diego, respectively.
The Yankees made the decision to look to the trade market when more free agency relief possibilities became available. Indeed, they went to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the same team that had given them their most recent bullpen addition. When the Yanks sent Double-A shortstop Trey Sweeney to the Land of Koufax in December of last year, in exchange for southpaw Victor González and another infield prospect, Jorbit Vivas, they helped LA make room on their roster for Shohei Ohtani.
Though they have sent another lefty to the Bronx, the Dodgers aren’t known to be adding another superstar (sorry, Ryan Brasier). The trade of Caleb Ferguson to the Yankees was first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
The Dodgers’ comeback has not yet been confirmed, but Joel Sherman, Heyman’s Post colleague, stated that the price would not be too high. Soon later, Heyman disclosed that Matt Gage, who the Yankees had recently claimed from the Astros, was the Quad-A player mentioned in Sherman’s tweet.
Although we’ll have a more thorough story on Ferguson later (perhaps tomorrow), the short version is that, despite being selected in a now-defunct draft round, the 27-year-old fared fairly well for himself.
Ferguson, a prep arm out of Ohio’s West Jefferson High School, was selected by the Dodgers in the 38th round of the 2014 MLB Draft.
Although he started some games as a starter in the Dodgers system, he has largely been used as a reliever, even though he has opened games quite a bit in 2018.
Ferguson had to miss the Dodgers’ drive at a championship in 2020 since he had Tommy John surgery in September and missed the entire 2021 season due to the procedure. However, after making a comeback in the late spring of 2022, he posted career-highs in 68 games and 60.1 innings last year with a 3.43 ERA, 3.00 FIP, and 1.018 WHIP in 34.2 innings. This is a one-year deal since Ferguson, like Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loáisiga, and Tommy Kahnle, will be available for free after the 2024 season.
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