Yankees Continue Their “March To 25” With 5 More Cuts

The Yankees continued their “March To 25” last night by announcing five more cuts and the names becoming more familiar.

The Yankees, prior to the preseason win against the Phillies last night, announced that five more players have reassigned. Included are pitchers Johnny Barbato, Dietrich Enns and Giovanny Gallegos, all of whom were competing for the final two spots in the bullpen.

The three have all been assigned to the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Rail Riders, the Yankees Triple-A farm team where they all played last season, contributing to the Triple-A National Championship Game last season.

Highly touted third baseman, Miguel Andujar, was also among this cut with his ticket punched for Double-A Trenton. Andujar put on a good display in Spring Training hitting .304 in 13 games, but he is blocked by Chase Headley, who is under contract with the Yankees through the 2018 season.

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And finally, promising starting pitcher, Chance Adams was sent to the team’s minor league camp where he will await his next assignment. Adams, who is ranked by Baseball Prospectus as the #8 Yankees prospect, just didn’t have the kind of spring that grabbed the attention of the team.

Adams is also the only one of the five players who is not on the Yankees 40-man roster, which could be a signal that the team is ready to move him and also the reason why he has not been reassigned.

Of the bullpen lot, each of them struggled mightily during the spring and there should be no mystery surrounding their departure from the team. Barbato especially did not impress and pretty much sealed his fate on Monday when he gave up five runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Yankees Sign Former Closer, Frierie

And for those who do not believe in coincidence, take heart because the Yankees also announced yesterday that Ernesto Frieri has been invited to the remaining weeks of Spring Training. Frieri, who collected 37 saves for the Angels in 2013, has not pitched in the major leagues since 2015.

But Yankees scouts apparently liked what they say in recent weeks from Frieri, who was pitching for Columbia in the World Baseball Classic tournament.

Of Frieri, manager Joe Girardi told ESPN:

"“This is a guy that saved a lot of games,” Girardi said after Wednesday night’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia. “He pitched well in the WBC. Some of our people saw him and he’s going to get an opportunity here.”"

Further cuts will be announced every few days from now forward. These cuts still leave around fifty players in camp counting the seven who are still away and playing in the WBC.

The drama usually continues until the last week of March when the final two or three players are shipped out. Often, a team will elect to make those final cuts earlier if they want to give the final 25 an opportunity to play together as a unit for a few days before the start of the season.

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In the Yankees storied history, twenty-five of their home runs stand out as moments in time never to be forgotten and always treasured by baseball fans.

The Yankees play their first game of the season on April 2, traveling to play the Tampa Bay Rays in a game scheduled for 1:05 p.m. EST. Masahiro Tanaka is expected to get the start for the Bombers.