When news first broke today that the New York Yankees will be releasing minor league payers ahead of the 2020 MLB Draft and the likely canceled minor league season. It was reported that the Yankees released 45 players in total across the organization.
The Yankees typically release 20-25 players at the end of minor league spring training each year, with another 10-20 around the time of the MLB Draft in June. These cuts seem to be in line with both from previous seasons.
In total, two catchers, two first basemen, seven infielders, three left-handed pitchers, seven outfielders, and 22 right-handed pitchers were released. Released from their contracts were catchers Ryan Lidge, Edwin Tordecilla, first basemen Nelson B. Alvarez and Jake Farrell, infielders Asdrubal Alvarez, Brayan Jimenez, Borinquen Mendez, David Metzgar, Danienger Perez, Mitchell Robinson, and Jose Villa, left-handed pitchers Argelis Herrera, Dalton Lehnen, and Abismael Villaman, outfielders Jose Cairo, Wilfre Favelo, Ricardo Ferreira, Leonel Hernandez, Alex Junior, Sandy Mota, and Marco Naranjo, right-handed pitchers Joensy Abreu, Felix Alonzo, Jackson Bertsch, Wellington Caceres, Albert Carrizo, Austin DeCarr, Abel Estevez, Marcus Evey, Tyler Johnson, Oliver Lezcano, Anyelo Luna, Daniel Marten, Erick Mendez, Luis Nova, Jose Peguero, Ignacio Radney, Daniel Ramos, Carlos Rodriguez, Adonny Rojas, Carlos Santana, Victor Santana, and Paul Young
Yankees pitching prospect Daniel Ramos on the mound for the Staten Island Yankees. (Robert M. Pimpsner/Pinstriped Prospects)
Daniel Ramos, a 25-year old right-handed pitcher out of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic has been with the Yankees since signing as an international free agent on October 25, 2013. Throughout his five seasons in the organization, he owned an 11-9 record with a 3.38 ERA and a 3.93 FIP.
Nelson B Alvarez, 24, is a first baseman that has been with the Yankees since 2015 and played five seasons in the organization. He reached as high as Class-A Short Season Staten Island in 2019. Overall he hit .227/.361/.344 in 240 minor league games, mostly in the Dominican Summer League.
Third baseman Sandy Mota, 23, joined the Yankees on July 9, 2014, as an international free agent and played five seasons in the system, reaching as high as Class-A Advanced Tampa for a handful of games in 2019. Of his 195 career minor league games, 187 of them came at the Rookie-level. Overall, he hit .244/.317/.400 in his minor league career.
Abel Estevez, 20, is a right-handed pitcher that has played three seasons in the Dominican Winter League. Over 36 career games out of the bullpen, he owned a 6.16 ERA with 47 strikeouts over 64 1/3 innings of work.
Argelis Herrera, 21, first played in the Yankees organization in 2016 and since pitched in 36 games, 8 starts. He earned an 0-4 record with a 10.80 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings of work.
Borinquen Mendez, 22, played four seasons in the Yankees organization, having reached as high as Class-A short-season Staten Island in 2019. In 186 games he hit .232/.324/.294 with 14 doubles 9 triples, and a home run.
David Metzgar fields the ball for the Trenton Thunder in a minor league spring training game against the Blue Jays at the Yankees Player Development and Scouting Complex on March 18, 2017. (Robert M. Pimpsner/Pinstriped Prospects)
David Metzgar, 25, signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and has since played for every team in the organization except the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Out of his 149 career games, he had played 42 with the Tampa Tarpons, 40 with the Charleston RiverDogs, 32 with the Staten Island Yankees, and 20 with the GCL Yankees, 12 with the Pulaski Yankees, and 3 with the Trenton Thunder. Over 467 at-bats he hit .276/.337/.347 with 14 doubles, 5 triples, 3 home runs, and 40 RBIs.
Austin DeCarr, 25, was a third-round pick of the Yankees in the 2014 draft and played four seasons in the minors. He earned a career 7-4 record with a 4.57 ERA with 121 strikeouts in 134. DeCarr missed all of the 2019 season due to injury.
Ricardo Ferreira, 25, is an outfielder who has been with the Yankees since the 2014 season and played five seasons in the minors. In 207 career minor league games, he hit .282/.400/.373 and reached as high as Class-A Charleston.
Wellington Caceres, 24, is a right-handed pitcher that pitched in three seasons for the Yankees, reaching as high as Rookie-advanced Pulaski. In 33 career games, 19 starts, he earned a 9-9 record with a 4.98 ERA and 105 strikeouts over 121 innings. He sat out the 2019 season due to injury.
Jose Villa, 21, is a third baseman who has been with the Yankees since signing as an international free agent on July 7, 2016. In 68 career minor league games he hit .343/.391/.490 with 9 doubles, 7 triples, 4 home runs, and 42 RBIs. He reached as high as Class-A Staten Island in 2019 hitting .190/.190/.190 in a short six-game stint. The 2018 season was his best season when he hit .386/.417/.583 over 39 games between the DSL and GCL Yankees.
Ryan Lidge (Robert M. Pimpsner)
Catcher Ryan Lidge, 25, is the cousin of former MLB pitcher Brad Lidge and has been with the Yankees since being drafted in the 20th round of the 2017 draft. In three minor league seasons, he played with every team in the organization except for the Gulf Coast League Yankees. In 114 career games, he hit .246/.340/.314 as one of the primary organizational backup catchers, filling in where ever the team needed a backstop.
Joensy Abreu,22, is a right-handed pitcher that has yet to play about the complex level. In three seasons he owns an 0-1 record with a 6.39 ERA with 33 strikeouts over 50 2/3 innings.
Felix Alonzo, 20, is a right-handed pitcher that played just two seasons in the organizations after signing as an international free agent on January 17, 2018. In 20 games, 1 start, he earned a 5-2 record with a 3.31 ERA and 90 strikeouts over 87 innings in the complex leagues.
Asdrubal Alvarez, 20, is an infielder that has yet to play above the complex level. In 118 games over three seasons, he hit .22/.313/.288 with 18 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 40 RBIs.
Jackson Bertsch, 25, is a right-handed pitcher that was drafted in the 29th round of the 2018 draft. In 31 games out of the bullpen, he owned a 3-1 record with a 3.94 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 45 2/3 innings of work.
Jose Cairo, 19, played just one game in the Yankees organization since signing as an international free agent on October 17, 2018. In that game, he had one hit and a walk.
Albert Carrizo, 20, signed with the Yankees as an international free agent on February 9, 2018, and played two seasons in the minors. In 17 games out of the bullpen, he owns a 1-2 record with a 3.91 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 25 1/3 innings.
Marcus Evey, 22, was drafted by the Yankees in the 20th round of the 2018 draft. In two seasons he pitched to a 4.10 ERA with a 4-3 record over 33 games out of the bullpen with 73 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings of work.
Jake Farrell, 24, was drafted by the Yankees in the 39th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Northeastern. In his lone minor league season, he hit .227/.301/.353 over 36 games between the GCL and Pulaski Yankees.
Wilfre Favelo, 19, signed as an international free agent in June 2018 and appeared in 53 games as an outfielder for the DSL Yankees. Over 182 at-bats he hit .214/.308/.313 with six doubles, three triples, two home runs, and 20 RBIs.
Leonel Hernandez, 22, played 33 games as an outfielder for the GCL Yankees in 2019. He hit .205/.311/.307 with four doubles, a triple, and a home run with 11 RBIs.
Brayan Jimenez, 21, has been with the Yankees since signing as an international free agent on July 2, 2015. In 113 games he hit .256/.329/.320 with 14 doubles, four triples, a home run, and 49 RBIs.
Tyler Johnson, 23, was drafted in the 30th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. In two seasons he pitched to a 1.01 ERA with a 4-0 record and 48 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings of work.
Alex Junior, 24, joined the organization after being drafted in the 19th round of the 2018 draft. He spent two seasons with the Staten Island Yankees where he hit .215/.338/.311 over 71 games.
Dalton Lehnen, 24, was drafted by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. In three minor league seasons, he appeared in 60 games, 30 starts, reaching as high as Class-A Advanced Tampa. Over 222 innings he struck out 216 hitters.
Oliver Lezcano, 20, appeared in nine games for the DSL Yankees in 2019, 3 starts. He pitched to a 4.50 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 26 innings pitched.
Anyelo Luna, 22, appeared in 34 games for the Yankees rookie-level teams over the last three seasons. He struck out 88 batters in 108 2/3 innings of work.
Daniel Marten, 23, spent most of his minor league career with the DSL Yankees with six games in the GCL. Over 35 appearances, 4 starts, he pitched to a 6-9 record with a 4.08 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 86 innings.
Erick Mendez, 24, was signed as part of the big 2014 international free agent class as an outfielder but after hitting .243/.337/.379 over 123 career minor league games the Yankees moved him to the mound. Mendez pitched in 10 games out of the bullpen in 2019 and allowed 11 earned runs on 14 hits over 14 2/3 innings of work while striking out 15 batters.
Marco Naranjo, 19, appeared in 29 games for the DSL Yankees as an outfielder between the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He hit .150/.274/.250 with a double, two triples, and a home run.
Luis Nova, 22, pitched in 15 games out of the bullpen for the DSL and GCL Yankees in 2019. He struck out 28 batters over 22 2/3 innings of work.
Jose Peguero, 21, has been in the organization since signing as an international free agent on August 15, 2016. In three seasons he pitched to a 1-3 record with a 5.81 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 48 innings of work.
Trenton Thunder’s Danienger Perez during a game against Hartford in Trenton on Tuesday, August 21, 2018. (Martin Griff)
Danienger Perez, 23, joined the Yankees organization since signing as part of the 2014 international free agent class. Since making his debut in the 2015 season he has appeared in 166 games, hitting .229/.285/.327 with 32 doubles, six triples, four home runs, and 65 RBIs.
Ignacio Radney, 18, was an international free agent that signed with the Yankees on July 2, 2018. In six games in 2019 with the DSL Yankees, he struck out 13 batters over 10 1/3 innings, allowing 7 runs.
Mitchell Robinson, 24, was the 21st round draft pick of the Yankees in the 2018 draft. Over 77 career minor league games he hit .202/.297/.300 with 13 doubles, four home runs, and 28 RBIs.
Carlos D. Rodriguez, 21, is a right-handed pitcher that has pitched four seasons in the Yankees organization. In 32 games, 18 starts, he owns a 7-8 record with a 3.60 ERA with 102 strikeouts over 127 2/3 innings of work. He pitched as high as the Pulaski Yankees in 2019.
Adonny Rojas, 24, has been with the organization since signing as an international free agent on July 2, 2015. After making his debut in 2016 with the DSL Yankees he would not pitch again until the 2019 season with the GCL Yankees. Overall he appeared in 12 games out of the bullpen, striking out 15 batters in 19 2/3 innings.
Carlos Santana, 21, pitched eight games for the DSL Yankees in the 2018 season. He allowed 16 earned runs over 17 1/3 innings while striking out just nine batters.
Victor Santana, 21, signed with the Yankees as an international free agent on January 17, 2018, but never appeared in an official game. He spent all of the 2018 and 2019 season on the 60-day injured list.
Edwin Tordecilla, 21, appeared in 19 games with the DSL Yankees in 2019 after signing as an international free agent on October 14, 2017. He hit .180/.278/.246 with four doubles.
Abismael Villaman, 24, pitched two seasons for the Yankees organization reaching as high as Class-A Short Season Staten Island. In 24 games, he struck out 79 batters over 91 innings of work and pitched to a 3.56 ERA.
Paul Young, 27, signs with the Yankees as a minor league free agent in 2017 out of the Frontier League. He was initially drafted in the 21st round of the 2013 draft by the Cleveland Indians and later signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Royals in 2016. Over four minor league seasons, he pitched in 14 games, striking out 27 batters in 20 innings.
In addition to the releases, three players retired during the 2019-2020 off-season. They were right-handed pitchers Dalton Higgins, Alex Mauricio, and Austin Gardner.
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