Yankees hint at more moves by trading flailing reliever Caleb Ferguson to hated rival

Earlier on Tuesday, the Yankees made a bullpen addition, dealing two prospects (including Jack Neely) for Cubs splitter strikeout artist Mark Leiter Jr. A few hours later, they made a second bullpen addition by subtraction.

Hinting at more moves to come, the Yankees cut bait on scuffling lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson, obtained in an offseason trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ferguson will head to the Houston Astros in exchange for a prospect of some kind (stay tuned) and money for New York's international bonus pool.

UPDATE: The Yankees have received $750,000 in bonus money (a hefty chunk) and High-A relief prospect Kelly Austin (outside the top 30) in exchange for Ferguson, per Chandler Rome.

Why the likelihood of more moves following behind this one? The current Yankees bullpen includes Yoendrys Gomez, whose demotion back to Triple-A already seemed preordained to make room for Leiter Jr. He's a top prospect serving as a temporary long man, and he finished off Monday night's blowout win in Philadelphia, and will not be pitching for several days. Now, the Yankees have another roster spot opened up, just like that.

Yankees deal Caleb Ferguson to Houston Astros on MLB trade deadline day

Don't distract yourself worrying about the Astros unlocking Ferguson. It could happen, but the stress isn't worth it.

Ferguson, a DFA candidate since early May (if not the season's first month), has been used sparingly in recent weeks, and will bring upper-tier whiff rates (71st percentile, 77th percentile K rate) to Houston alongside his 5.13 ERA. When he has been used it's typically resulted in games ending prematurely, though we thank him for his service at Fenway Park over the weekend, and occasional fun screams.

The rest of Ferguson's metrics don't indicate much room for positive regression, though, and he might be stuck in "high WHIP, acceptable K" purgatory. Houston's been good at maximizing their relief targets in the past, but things have been different this season. They might simply be ... being pals here and helping Brian Cashman out of a jam.

As has been the case all morning, the most interesting part of this deal is whatever comes next.