Yankees fan favorite's downward spiral continues with latest depressing DFA

It's unclear exactly why the New York Yankees took so much pleasure in toying with reliever Ron Marinaccio, both before and after the shin injury that stunted his upward trajectory, but they clearly did.

While Marinaccio's performance was noteworthy in 2022, the Yankees seemed more enamored by his minor-league options, shuttling him down to Triple-A whenever they needed some roster flexibility (even with far worse pitchers still holding court on the active roster).

2.05 ERA/193 ERA+? Not enough for the Toms River, NJ native to survive on the roster for the entire season. Did the injury that knocked him off the postseason roster throw off his mechanics moving forward? Or did Marinaccio bristle following demotion after demotion until it finally resulted in a bit of a clubhouse outburst early in the 2024 season?

Regardless, his time with the Yankees officially ended last September, when he was designated for assignment at the tail end of the year so that the team could welcome back Cody Poteet. The appetite for his services was immediately obvious; he was claimed by the team at the very top of the waiver wire, owing to their dreck record.

That was the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately, to add insult to injury, even that team considers Marinaccio to be overflow before the 2025 campaign even officially begins. He was DFA'd once again on Tuesday in order to welcome veteran lefty (and future trade deadline mover) Martín Pérez to the active roster.

Former Yankees reliever Ron Marinaccio DFA'd by White Sox before start of 2025 season

Unbelievable glow-down.

While Marinaccio was a glorified mop-up man with the Yankees in 2024, he did recover from the Triple-A control struggles that threatened to derail his entire career the year prior. Sure, the work was lower-leverage than what he'd become used to, but a 3.86 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 25 Ks in 23 1/3 innings will play in someone's system. Marinaccio will likely be claimed once again off waivers by one of the league's worst teams, looking for cheap pitching; he won't get far.

Of course, he won't be pitching for the absolute worst team in the league. They just let him go, preferring Martín Pérez and 38 other options. Brutal, and certainly feels partially like the Yankees' fault.