The Yankees have been adding smaller pieces over the past few months in hopes of brewing competition during spring training. There’s been plenty of roster turnover over the past few weeks, especially after general manager Brian Cashman acquired Caleb Ferguson from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
Yankees’ Roster Changes and Departures
However, they did lose one infield utility piece, Diego Castillo. The 26-year-old was claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday after spending the majority of his career bouncing around minor league teams. He has played 97 MLB games, hitting .205/.250/.380, including 11 home runs and 29 RBIs.
Castillo has the capabilities to play every infield spot and has a bit of experience in the corner outfield positions.
The majority of his work has come at shortstop, playing 255 innings, featuring a .950 percentage. However, he will take his talents to Philadelphia in hopes of cracking the 40-man roster since his chances were low with the Yankees anyway.
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Exploring Utility Options
In fact, the Bombers were connected to former Oakland Athletics utility man Tony Kemp recently. Now 32 years old, Kemp has played 734 professional games, hitting .238/.325/.352, including 35 home runs and 184 RBIs.
Kemp had a few really good seasons several years ago, but his numbers have fallen off with age. He has decent value as a defensive asset, but the Yankees already have youngsters Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera hoping to provide defensive value at multiple alignments.