Yankees drop valuable reliever to minors in official Carlos Carrasco roster move

The New York Yankees needed an arm to potentially soak up innings on Sunday Night Baseball at Dodger Stadium following the Dodgers' demolition of Will Warren the day prior. Given that Pablo Reyes isn't really a viable long reliever, and the Yankees had open 40-man spots available (allowing them to add a pitcher freely without exposing anyone to waivers), the move was guaranteed long before Carlos Carrasco hopped off the plane at LAX with his dream and a cardigan on Sunday.

So who would the Yankees sent back to Exile Island in exchange? They could've demoted Warren to work under the radar and out of the spotlight for 10 days, but he wouldn't have been able to return for his next start without an injury elsewhere. It would've been a risky demotion and a waste of an option. They also could've sent left-hander Brent Headrick down, the most recent addition to the bullpen.

Instead, they chose ... Yerry de los Santos, who went from the last man on the Opening Day roster to replaced by Ryan Yarbrough before it even became official to ... the guy the Yankees have actually warmed up in late-and-close scenarios recently when both Devin Williams and Luke Weaver were unavailable.

Now, he'll head down to Scranton undeservedly, all because of Saturday's sludge puddle.

Yankees send Yerry de los Santos to Triple-A to make room for Carlos Carrasco

In 10 games with the Yankees, de los Santos struck out nine men in 12 innings with an even 3.00 ERA. Of course, that solid performance came with a ton of clogged-up basepaths. Much like Yoendrys Gómez before him, the small-sample-size surface stats might've been misleading; his 1.92 WHIP didn't create a whole lot of optimism. Still, productivity is productivity, and the Yankees certainly trusted him in a few tight jams in Anaheim.

Soon enough, right-handed relief weapon Fernando Cruz will be ready to return after a weekend workout left him feeling refreshed and ready to hop off the IL. That means de los Santos would've probably been the Yankees' preferred corresponding move for Cruz anyhow, as opposed to a Headrick demotion.

Now, the team will instead swap Carrasco out for Cruz and DFA the 38-year-old righty midweek, as long as Cruz continues to bounce back. The only remaining question is whether or not Carrasco will get in a game during his turn doing Adam Ottavino duty.