Yankees DFA outfielder before he had a chance in corresponding Marcus Stroman roster move

Adam Weinrib

Division Series - Cleveland Guardians v New York Yankees - Game Two / Elsa/GettyImages

Back when the Yankees' offseason was young and innocent and Juan Soto was still bummin' around the west coast, it seemed like a wise move to take a chance on a slugging right-handed outfielder who'd killed them in the 2022 postseason before falling off a proverbial cliff in 2023 (though he still killed Triple-A!).

Now? That quaint move feels so unnecessary. Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham are all around to provide necessary left-handed pop for the big-league Yankees, and their insurance policies at Triple-A include Bubba Thompson and Everson Pereira on the 40-man.

Though we never expected him to be the first player DFA'd with a full 40-man, former Guardians outfielder Oscar González got the boot for Marcus Stroman on Wednesday afternoon. With Luke Weaver's signing still to be officially announced, another one of these is likely coming down the pike as soon as Thursday.

Sorry, Spongebob. There was only room in this locker room for one Guardian who ran through the Yankees like butter in the 2022 postseason, and his name is Cody Morris.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated OF Oscar Gonzalez for assignment.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 17, 2024

Yankees 40-man roster: Who's next to go after Oscar González/Marcus Stroman move?

González, who posted a 125 OPS+ in 91 games in 2022 and a 53 mark in 54 games last season, will now head to waivers. There's a possibility he clears them; roster spots are precious. That would mean he'd return to Triple-A, but without the 40-man permissions that would allow the Yankees to promote him. As we learned from Estevan Florial's situation last summer, he likely wouldn't get a look, no matter how hard he destroyed the baseball.

With another corresponding move on the horizon, Jeter Downs and Thompson both seem likely to head out before ever really checking in. It's unlikely the Yankees minimize their pitching depth intentionally -- unless they swing a trade for another starter this week using several of their 40-man chips like Pereira, Oswald Peraza and Ben Rortvedt.

Stay tuned, because at the very least, Weaver's got to bump one more contender out of the ring by the end of the week.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.