On the day of the All-MLB Awards?! Come on Yankees! Just kidding, we’ll take anything at this point, especially given that Scott Boras and Juan Soto have complete control over the free agent market.
New York has made several tiny moves thus far and will most likely continue to do so until the floodgates open for larger contracts. Brian Cashman and the front office are on the hunt for more undiscovered pitching prospects.
On Thursday, the Yankees signed Jordany Ventura, a former Mets prospect, to a minor league contract. The Mets released the right-hander after injuries hampered his performance.
However, the Yankees are willing to take a chance on individuals like Ventura, especially given his transition to a relief position showed promise in 2024. His fastball reaches 96 mph, and he struck out 55 batters over 48 2/3 innings.
Perhaps his finest skill is his ability to restrict contact, particularly hard contact, which the Yankees’ relief corps battled with this season. His 6.9 H/9 and 0.5 HR/9 can’t be overlooked.
Yankees News: NYY signs former Mets prospect Jordany Ventura
Ventura made his Mets debut in 2018 after signing an international free agent contract, however he failed to make an impression. He played 15 games in 2019 before missing an entire year due to the pandemic. Then he underwent Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him for all of 2021 and limited him to only four starts in 2022.
He has featured in 69 professional games, with only five of them being in Double-A (his best level). The 24-year-old still has a lot of work to do to establish himself as a fringe 40-man roster bullpen asset, but it appears he may already have an advantage after a strong close to his 2024 season.
The Mets want to take one of our pitching coaches? Go ahead. Matt Blake oversees the lab in the Bronx, and the greatest way for him to exact retribution would be to utilize Ventura in ways the Mets never could.
