Yankees ink Richard Rodriguez to minor league deal

The New York Yankees are signing veteran reliever Richard Rodriguez to a minor league deal.

The 32-year-old Rodriguez, who is a few years removed from his best seasons in the league, will be assigned to the club’s Florida complex.

Rodriguez broke into the big stages with 69 1.3 frames of 2.47 ERA ball for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2018 season. He registered another 65 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA the next year before posting a 2.70 EERA through 24 games in the 2020 season.

The Dominican pitcher was subsequently traded to the Atlanta Braves in last year’s deadline for Bryse Wilson and 2019 eighth-round draft pick Ricky DeVito.

While suiting for the Braves, Rodriguez made 27 appearances but only tallied nine batters in 26 innings while allowing six home runs.

Now with the Yankees, he is expected to spend time at the complex building before joining the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Yankees are expected to turn Rodriguez into a late-season bullpen option but he won’t be eligible for the playoffs after being slapped with an 80-game suspension in April due performance-enhancing substance use.