Yankees non-tender 3 players including longtime frustrating pitcher

The non-tenders are here! Though the New York Yankees didn't get the news out there until an hour after the 8 p.m. ET deadline on Friday (classic), the deed is done. Three roster spots have been cleared and so was about $5 million in payroll.

The casualties were pitchers Albert Abreu, Lou Trivino and Anthony Misiewicz. Abreu was due $900K; Trivino was the big one at $4.1 million; and Misiewicz, who sadly had his season ended after taking a line drive off his head last year, was a pre-arb player, so the Yanks didn't necessarily save much.

At the very least, the Yankees did two good things here. They got rid of a longtime infuriating pitcher in Abreu, who was never really able to catch on as a bullpen contributor despite an electric fastball. But Brian Cashman made sure we reached the bitter end. Another season from the right-hander in 2024 would've been criminal.

Trivino, unfortunately, represented a sunk cost. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May and wasn't slated to return until at least the second half of 2024, which pretty much meant he might be fully healthy for September and the stretch run, if that.

Though we had projected two other players to get the ax, this was a job well done by the front office in terms of creating roster spots and a little bit of payroll.

Yankees non-tender 3 players including longtime frustrating pitcher

Next up will be looking for bullpen replacements, which shouldn't be too difficult for this regime. It's the one thing they can effectively accomplish.

These moves, however, indicate other trades could be on the way. The Yankees currently employ six catchers on the 40-man roster. That's not tenable. Look for Kyle Higashioka to be dealt in the next few days or weeks. Same goes for Carlos Narvaez and Agustin Ramirez.

Earlier on Friday, the Yankees also cleared a roster spot by trading Jake Bauers to the Milwaukee Brewers for two low-level outfield prospects. That brings the payroll savings to $6.7 million for those moves alone. The outright releases of Domingo German, Franchy Cordero, Billy McKinney, Ryan Weber, Matt Bowman and Jimmy Cordero a couple weeks ago saved nearly $9 million. Now we're talkin'!

Trivino being jettisoned is unfortunate because of how good of a fit he was in the Yankees' bullpen (and because he was a good consolation prize after they lost the Frankie Montas trade). Perhaps there's a chance he's brought back on a two-year deal that allows him to rehab in New York while paying him fairly in 2025, but it's probably not high on the team's to-do list. There's too much to focus on for 2024.

There are four open roster spots. The payroll is at $244 million. Time to make trades and signings. The offseason, now, is underway.