The Yankees and right-hander Wilking Rodríguez have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. The righty will presumably receive an invite to big league spring training as well.
The Yanks previously signed Rodríguez to a minor league deal in August of 2022. He had been pitching for Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican League that year, posting a 2.01 earned run average over 44 2/3 innings. He struck out 43.2% of batters faced for that club, limiting walks to a 7.7% clip.
That intrigued the Yankees but evidently also the Cardinals. The Cards took Rodríguez in the 2022 Rule 5 draft, a surprising pick since the righty was going into his age-33 season and most Rule 5 picks are guys in their 20s still looking to make their major league debuts. Rodríguez had been in the majors long before, throwing two innings for the Royals in 2014 before spending years away from affiliated ball.
The unorthodox pick didn’t work for the Cards, as Rodríguez required shoulder surgery and spent the entire 2023 season on the injured list. He was outrighted off the roster after that campaign and then re-signed with the Cards on a minor league deal. He spent most of 2024 on the minor league IL and only made 13 appearances.
Though it’s been a rough couple of years, Leighton relays that Rodríguez has been pitching in winter ball of late and hitting 97 miles per hour on his fastball. The Yankees were clearly interested in him a couple of years ago and have circled back to him now that he has perhaps gotten over his injury woes.
The Yankees made a big bullpen addition today by acquiring Devin Williams from the Brewers but all clubs need to reach into their non-roster pitching depth throughout a long season as injuries are inevitable.
