Six New York Yankees players elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment, including pitcher Domingo Germán, the team announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:
Germán’s tumultuous tenure ends
The move all but spells the end to the Germán’s tumultuous tenure with the Yankees. It reached its lowest point when he slapped his then-girlfriend at a charity event, forcing her to hide in a locked room in late 2019, Lindsey Adler reported. The incident sparked MLB to ban Germán for 81 games for violating the joint domestic violence policy.
The Yankees then placed Germán on the restricted list in August of this season after he showed up to the Yankee Stadium home clubhouse drunk and became violent, lashing out at teammates, arguing with manager Aaron Boone and smashing a TV, according to team sources. Germán was meant to receive treatment for alcohol abuse. Just a month prior, he threw a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland. It was the fourth perfect game in Yankees history. — Brendan Kuty, Yankees writer
Analyzing everyone else’s time with New York
It seemed unlikely that the Yankees would bring back Jimmy Cordero, a right-handed reliever, after he was suspended for the remainder of the season on July 5 for violating the league’s joint domestic violence policy. Details of what caused MLB to suspend Cordero haven’t been made public. The 32-year-old had a 3.86 ERA over 31 games before his ban.
Franchy Cordero and McKinney were backup outfielders who weren’t able to pick up much of the slack, particularly when star right fielder Aaron Judge missed time. McKinney, 29, hit just .227 in 128 at-bats. Cordero hit .188 in 69 at-bats.
Weber, 33, appeared in eight games for the Yankees before an elbow injury shut him down. Bowman pitched in three games for the Yankees at the end of the season — his first work in the majors since 2019. — Kuty
Required reading
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
