Yankees lose former trade acquisition to A's then make dumpster-diving signing

When the New York Yankees non-tendered Mark Leiter Jr. in November, it was clear that the right-hander was going to be a commodity on the free agent market, just not at his projected $3.5-$4 million salary.

While the interest wasn't exactly far-reaching, Leiter Jr., the former 2024 trade deadline acquisition for New York, has already found a new home with the Athletics. According to rumors on Wednesday night, it was believed Leiter Jr. was making the move to Sacramento, and then it was confirmed by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Thursday morning.

Leiter Jr. wasn't what the Yankees had expected when he arrived to the Bronx. He was supposed to help stabilized the back end of the bullpen, but he ended up surrendering far too much contact, which was his undoing.

After the Yankees revamped their bullpen at the 2025 trade deadline, the writing was on the wall for the veteran.

Yankees News: Mark Leiter Jr. signs with A's, NYY signs reliever Bradley Hanner

Just moments before the Leiter news gained steam, the Yankees added an arm to their bullpen, signing former Guardians righty Bradley Hanner to a minor league contract. He'll earn $800K if he makes the big league roster.

And for those wondering ... he probably will. Brian Cashman makes these types of deals annually, and we always see these smaller signings for a certain stretch of time. Hanner has a pretty nasty sweeper, so we can suspect pitching coach Matt Blake will be able to utilize that for a decent while during the regular season.

Hanner has never pitched in the bigs and had a 4.74 ERA across 42 Triple-A games (49 1/3 innings) last year, but he also struck out 62 batters. While there appears to be a good amount of swing and miss, he surrenders far too many home runs (2.4 HR/9 last year) and issues too many walks (4.6 BB/9).

This wasn't quite the move Yankees fans were expecting after a boring Winter Meetings, but it at least gives them depth for a unit that badly needs it. Hanner will be someone the Yankees can shuttle to and from the big league roster from Scranton — which is an important piece of their puzzle every year as they deal with injuries and roster turnover.