Four Former Yankees Sign With New Teams on Minor League Deals

Tim Locastro, who played 38 games with the Yankees last year, signed a minor league deal with the Mets on Monday.

Tim Locastro is staying in New York, but not with the Yankees.

The speedy outfielder, a Syracuse native, agreed to a minor league deal with the Mets on Monday, according to FanNation’s Pat Ragazzo. Locastro’s deal includes an invite to spring training.

A product of Ithaca College, Locastro is one of baseball’s fastest players, though he’s a light hitter. He spent parts of the 2021 and 2022 seasons in the majors with the Yankees, slashing .188/.232/.375 over 47 games. The 30-year-old stole eight bags while making 38 appearances for the Yanks this past season. He also added a swipe in the postseason, when he cracked New York’s roster as a go-to pinch-runner.

Locastro, who began his career with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, is a career .227/.325/.331 hitter, and he’s stolen 39 bases over 247 big league games. His sprint speed has ranked in Baseball Savant’s 99th or 100th percentile in each of the last three seasons.

Locastro was one of three 2022 Yankees to sign a minor league deal elsewhere on Monday.

Left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve agreed to a minor league deal with the Tigers, per FanSided’s Robert Murray. The deal could pay him up to $2 million if he’s in the majors.

Shreve, who pitched in the majors for the Yankees from 2015-2018, rejoined the team last summer but only pitched briefly for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Shreve, 32, recorded a 1.93 ERA over 4.2 innings.

Meanwhile, catcher David Freitas agreed to a minors pact with the Dodgers, according to his MLB.com page. Freitas, 33, spent all of last season at Triple-A, where he slashed .239/.310/.345 over 36 games.

Freitas, who has not played in the majors since 2019, has experience with the Braves, Mariners and Brewers.

Freitas is the second catcher to recently depart the Yankees organization. Rob Brantly, a veteran depth piece since 2021, inked a minor league deal with the Blue Jays on Friday.

Brantly appeared in seven games for New York over the last two seasons.

MORE:

• Omar Minaya Brings More Balance to Yankees’ Front Office
• Omar Minaya Regrets Nixing Zack Wheeler Trade With Yankees
• Blue Jays Claim Reliever From Yankees Off Waivers

Follow Gary Phillips on Twitter (@GaryHPhillips). Be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.