Yankees surprisingly DFA bullpen option in quest for relief help after Twins loss

Thursday's game against the Minnesota Twins didn't go as planned for anybody wearing a Yankees uniform (except, perhaps, Anthony Rizzo).

It especially didn't go according to the projections for starter Jhony Brito and reliever Colten Brewer, though.

Brito, after allowing just a single earned run across two starts to begin the campaign, was tagged for seven earned runs in 0.2 innings, every one of them extremely deserved. Brewer entered before the first inning had wrapped on an innings-soaking mission, then promptly surrendered two more home runs back-to-back.

Logic dictated that someone would be going down after the game to help flesh out the bullpen for the remainder of the series. As cruel as demoting Brito would've felt, he had options, and the Yankees had already done it once this season to promote Ian Hamilton (they "lucked out" and were able to bring Brito back before the 15-day window due to injuries to Josh Donaldson and Jonathan Loaisiga). It seemed like the logical move.

...until the Yankees bucked precedent and decided they'd rather DFA Brewer, exposing him to waivers just two weeks after they'd added him in the first place.

Yankees promote Greg Weissert, DFA Colten Brewer

This move indicates:

1. The Yankees still feel strongly about Brito making his next start, and his struggles didn't scare them off (or make them consider a 15-day break).
2. Their pre-Game 2 roster shuffle built around bringing Brewer aboard was a short-team plan rather than a long-term reconstruction project.

Brewer performed solidly prior to Thursday's implosion, and it seems likely the totality of his Yankee career will be 8.1 innings, four strikeouts, and a 4.32 ERA. The curveball is an obvious weapon, but ... Brewer was the bullpen's low man, and he's now been forced out.

Since we last saw Weissert, he's struck out seven men in 5.1 innings at Triple-A while sporting a pristine 0.38 WHIP. We're ready for his next chapter.