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Yankees Release 22-Year-Old with Promising Minor League Numbers

The Yankees recently released Cuban righty Osiel Rodriguez, who now has multiple suitors interested in him.

Brady Farkas

A New York Yankees hat is seen during a spring training workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field in 2020.
A New York Yankees hat is seen during a spring training workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field in 2020. / Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
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According to a recent report from Cuban baseball insider Francys Romero, the New York Yankees recently released Cuba native Osiel Rodriguez from the organization.

Per Romero:

The Yankees unexpectedly released 23-year-old Cuban RHP Osiel Rodríguez two days ago.

Several MLB organizations are interested in him.

Opponents have hit .212 against him over five Minor League seasons, with 147.0 innings pitched and 183 strikeouts.

Rodriguez has never pitched above High-A, so there's certainly many steps to go before he could impact a major league team, but it's easy to see why teams are interested.

He made a career-high 30 appearances last season for the Tampa Tarpons, going 1-2 with a 2.56 ERA.

There was no reason given as to why the Yankees released Rodriguez, but nevertheless, he'll look now to re-jumpstart his career somewhere else.

At the big-league level, the Yankees are coming off a season in which they won the American League East and advanced to the World Series. They defeated the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS and the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Fall Classic.

This year, the Yankees figure to be strong once again, even despite losing Juan Soto. They've brought in Cody Bellinger, Max Fried, Devin Williams and Paul Goldschmidt.

New York opens up the regular season on March 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers, another team that won its division a year ago. They are the ones who traded Williams to the Yankees in a prospect-return package.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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