The Boston Red Sox have a huge contingent of former New York Yankees on their active roster, and perhaps the Yankees believe it’s time to start returning the favor.
Boston made a playoff appearance thanks in large part to the contributions of ex-Yankees Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Carlos Narváez, and Rob Refsnyder. However, not only do the Yankees have a pitching prospect they love who came in the Narváez trade, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, but they just scored another recent Red Sox farmhand for nothing more than cash.
Yovanny Cruz, who spent the last year in the Red Sox organization, mostly on Double-A, has a minor-league deal in place with the Yankees for the upcoming season, according to the transactions log on his official roster page.
The transactions log indicates Cruz elected free agency on Nov. 6 and signed with the Yankees on Nov. 8, but the signing took several more days to show up on the website. Cruz is currently pitching for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, where he’s allowed one run in his first four appearanes over 4 2/3 innings.
This past season, the 26-year-old Cruz put up a 3.04 ERA in 59 1/3 innings, all out of the bullpen, for Double-A Portland. He’s got a clear control issue, as he walked 44 batters, but he also struck out 72.
Cruz’s career path hasn’t been linear. Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Chicago Cubs in 2016, he’s spent nine years in affiliated ball, including a two-year interruption from 2020 to 2021 (COVID-19 pandemic, then injury). He pitched in the San Diego Padres organization last year before signing with the Red Sox.
If the Yankees can find a way to harness Cruz’s stuff, they might have a legitimate relief option on their hands as soon as the second half of this upcoming season. He was assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre upon signing, though that assignment could change, and if that’s where he starts the year, he’ll be making his first-ever appearance at the Triple-A level.
Clearly, the Yankees’ goal is to make the Red Sox regret letting Cruz get away. It will be intriguing to see if they can capitalize.
