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Most random Yankees pitcher ever announces return to team on Instagram

By Thomas Carannante |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 22: Nestor Cortes Jr. #67 of the New York Yankees in action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on September 22, 2019 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 8-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 22: Nestor Cortes Jr. #67 of the New York Yankees in action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on September 22, 2019 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 8-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Yankees have brought back Nestor Cortes Jr.

All it took was a year in Seattle for this former New York Yankees pitcher to realize he belongs on the east coast.

Late on Thursday night, Nestor Cortes Jr. announced he’s returning to the Bombers after he was traded to the Mariners last offseason for cash considerations. The left-hander had the worst season of his career in 2020 after registering a 15.26 ERA and 2.35 WHIP in eight games. He was outrighted by Seattle and became a free agent.

It’s unclear if this is a minor-league or major-league deal. The Bombers had 39 players on the 40-man roster heading into Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft and added two players, so we’ll be waiting for more official updates on the corresponding moves to get some clarity here. We’d like to think this in a minor-league contract, however.

And the news came on his birthday! What a day for Nestor, whose best career work came with the Bombers’ affiliates. Cortes, 26, has done little to prove his worth at the major league level, but somehow carved out a mini fan club among Yankees fans during his short stint.

He went 5-1 with a 5.67 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 33 games (66.2 innings of work) back in 2019. He was largely an innings-eater for the Yankees whenever they were up big or down big in an effort to preserve the higher-leverage arms in the bullpen.

Plus, he’s a lefty, so you never know when that’ll come in handy.

Still, this is beyond random, especially as Yankees fans are sitting around waiting for DJ LeMahieu to re-sign or for some sort of a blockbuster trade to go down. In the meantime, we’ll have to settle with the addition of Cortes, who couldn’t be happier to be back with the Bombers.

We’ll at least take those good vibes as we anticipate bigger news.

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