New York Yankees make disappointing signing

The transaction did not prove to be as successful as the New York Yankees had hoped.

On Sunday, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reported that the Yankees have released left-handed reliever Victor González, who has been with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since late June.

González, 28, was acquired along with infielder prospect Jorbit Vivas in a Dec. 11 trade that sent shortstop and 2021 first-round draft pick Trey Sweeney to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the process, the Dodgers had to clear two spots on their 40-man roster for Shohei Ohtani and Joe Kelly. Sweeney, considered nearly MLB ready, has fit in well with the Dodgers’ system, effectively replacing Vivas without having to take up a spot on the 40-man roster until next offseason.

The Yankees took advantage of the opportunity to acquire a cost-controlled reliever to bolster a bullpen that had many question marks, at the cost of trading away two valuable infield prospects. Vivas was rated a top-20 Dodger by MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs and Baseball America. Sweeney drew mixed reviews, ranking as high as third and as low as 15 in the Yankees’ farm system.

Before joining New York, González built a solid MLB resume. The left-handed reliever threw 89.1 innings for the Dodgers from 2020-2023, posting a 3.22 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, and 8.4% walk rate, to go along with an impressive 58.1% ground-ball rate. With three years of club control under his belt, he seemed like a natural fit for left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta, whom the Yankees lost to the San Diego Padres in free agency.

On June 21, the Yankees designated González for assignment, which initially raised eyebrows. His 3.86 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 27 appearances seemed solid, but his underlying numbers painted a more troubling picture. His K/9 rate of 4.2 and BB/9 rate of 5.0 were well below league average. In addition, his 5.96 FIP and .149 BABIP suggested that he was riding on a streak of short-lived luck, suggesting inevitable regression.

González cleared waivers and remained with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, where he posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in 21 appearances as a reliever. While his strikeout and walk numbers improved in the minor leagues, his batting luck disappeared, allowing 11.9 hits per nine innings.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers were able to trade Sweeney to the Detroit Tigers on trade deadline for right-handed starter Jack Flaherty, one of the game’s top pitchers in 2024. After posting a 1.114 OPS in 11 games with Triple-A Toledo, Sweeney was promoted to the MLB and has since become Detroit’s everyday shortstop. As of early Sunday afternoon, he was slashing .211/.263/.408 with four home runs and a .971 fielding percentage in 25 games.

The Yankees bullpen now has more than enough arms to get through the rest of the season, but uncertainty remains over who will man the big-time positions. Tim Hill and Tim Mayza are the only left-handed relievers left on the 40-man roster, unless Nestor Cortes Jr. moves into a reserve role in the postseason.