Turns out, the New York Yankees didn’t learn their lesson here when they already experienced this type of move blowing up in their face. That’s right … it happened back in 2022 when Brian Cashman and the front office’s series of decisions sunk a bonafide World Series contender.
On Thursday night, the Yankees optioned the red-hot Ron Marinaccio back down to Triple-A solely because he had options remaining, which saved Michael Tonkin’s spot on the roster for the time being. Nick Burdi is set to return from the injured list for the team’s weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Yanks had to clear a roster spot.
Yes, there’s some validity to this. The Yankees are ailing on the pitching front and need to preserve as many innings as possible. If they went with Tonkin this time around, he would’ve had to be designated for assignment. If/when Tommy Kahnle returns, that’ll have to happen anyway.
But is preserving someone like Tonkin worth halting Marinaccio’s progress as he rebounds from an awful 2023 season? The work Marinaccio has done so far has been incredible, considering where he was just a few months ago.
The right-hander owns a 1.42 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with 10 strikeouts across 12 2/3 innings of work after finishing 2023 with an 8.80 ERA and 1.96 WHIP across his final 15 1/3 innings at Triple-A.6
