Yankees pick up loser of Dodgers' Kyle Tucker roster move (and sacrifice bullpen arm)

With plenty of uncertainty remaining on the Yankees' roster, the least they could do is bring fans a few more external additions that'll increase their curiosity ahead of Opening Day. On Friday, the Yankees took advantage of the waiver wire yet again, bringing in an outfielder who's a bit of a magician (but not with the bat), Unfortunately, the move came at the expense of ... one of their precious few external additions from earlier in the offseason.

Michael Siani, the ex-Cardinals and Reds outfielder who joined the Dodgers this offseason before losing his roster spot when LA imported Kyle Tucker (rigged), was claimed by the Yankees and will join the 40-man roster.

As a corresponding move, the Yankees have DFA'd Kaleb Ort, the former Astros and Red Sox reliever. While Ort was unlikely to evolve into a star in the Bronx, he certainly seemed more intriguing than some of the folks they're keeping around.

Yankees pick up Michael Siani after Dodgers DFA him for Kyle Tucker roster move; Yanks lose Kaleb Ort

I know this is the most obscure complaint a fan could possibly make, but what are Jayvien Sandridge (lefty with a 4.66 ERA in the minors last year/27.00 ERA with the Yankees) and Braden Shewmake (.244 with a .680 OPS in Triple-A last year) doing surviving on the roster longer than Ort? There's a better-than-not chance that Ort is no great shakes, a burly hurler with a hittable fastball. But at least he represented a plausible bullpen upgrade, if things broke right. The other two represent absolutely nothing! What are we doing here?

Psshhh ... anyway, there's a good chance that your most suspicious Yankee fan friend has already connected the dots between Siani's speed/defense and Jasson Domínguez's troubles in the outfield and decided that he makes more sense as the fourth outfielder than The Martian. That would be true if Siani could impact the baseball; unfortunately, he's never posted an OPS above .749 at any level, majors or minors (Double-A Chattanooga, 2022). In the bigs, he's posted a number of spectacular outlier highlights, but his .570 OPS with the rebuilding/flailing 2024 St. Louis Cardinals should tell you all you need to know about his bench viability.

Postseason pinch-runner? Maybe.

Bench piece who convinces you to trade your recent top prospect? Doubtful.

But hey — at least this time the Yankees took advantage of the Dodgers' roster crunch rather than helping them clear a space for Shohei Ohtani.