The Pirates got an early jump on the trade deadline Thursday, sending cash considerations to the San Diego Padres to bring in former Yankees reliever Ron Marinaccio. To make room, Pittsburgh cut ties with Dennis Santana, another ex-Yankee who had just been in the middle of a late-inning dustup with Jose Caballero in an 8-5 Yankees win.
Santana’s exit came only days after that exchange of aggressive words, and it fit the broader pattern that has followed him around. He had been effective for Pittsburgh at times, including a stint closing games last year, but his track record has always come with volatility. The Pirates officially moved on after he picked up another on-field fight this week.
The swap gives Pittsburgh a fresh look at Marinaccio, whose Yankees run was one of those odd, stop-and-start careers that never quite settled into a neat shape. He broke through as a local kid and bullpen hopeful, made the 2022 Opening Day roster, and was excellent in medium leverage, putting up a 2.05 ERA, 3.20 FIP and 1.045 WHIP across 44 innings. A stress reaction in his right shin then knocked him out and left the Yankees short in the postseason.
When Marinaccio returned, he was serviceable but never locked in as a sure thing. He posted ERAs in the high-3.00s in both 2023 and 2024, but the back-and-forth between the majors and minors clearly wore on him. He was unhappy about being demoted in 2024, and getting DFA’d to open a spot for Cody Poteet likely stung even more.
His recent numbers show the uneven ride. Marinaccio turned in a sharp 10-inning MLB cameo last year with a 0.84 ERA, but that came alongside a rough minor-league season in El Paso, where he finished with a 5.05 ERA. This year, he logged a 4.79 ERA over 33 games and 47 innings, which made his eventual fate fairly easy to read.
The Pirates and Yankees also found themselves on opposite sides of a strange little deadline trend, with both the Dodgers and Pirates making small bullpen moves after facing New York, while the Yankees have yet to make any change at all.
As for Santana, the idea of the Yankees taking another shot at him drew a laugh for a reason. The question answered itself.
In Other News...
Yankees May Have Found The Deadline Catcher This Lineup Desperately Needs
The Yankees search for help behind the plate has become one of the quieter but more obvious deadline storylines, with Austin Wells still searching for consistency and the rest of the catching mix offering little certainty. That is why the idea of adding a more established bat at catcher has started to make sense, especially for a club trying to squeeze more offense out of every spot in the lineup.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic floated Colorados Hunter Goodman as a name worth watching, and the fit is easy to see from New Yorks side because a move like that could ease the burden on Wells while giving the Yankees another middle-of-the-order option on days when the catcher is not behind the plate. The catch, of course, is that the Rockies are not likely to move a player with that kind of control lightly, which is why this remains one of those deadline ideas that feels intriguing now and complicated the moment the real negotiations begin. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Bullpen Hunt Just Took A Serious Turn
The Yankees search for bullpen help has moved well beyond the usual July window shopping. According to USA Todays Bob Nightengale, the club is also looking for a backup catcher and additional offense, but the most eye-catching part of the report is the level of relief arm they are chasing as the deadline approaches.
Mason Miller has been one of the most effective relievers in the game this season, and the appeal is obvious for a Yankees team trying to shorten games down the stretch. He is also under team control through 2029, which only raises the stakes for any deal, because getting him would almost certainly require a massive return and a front office willing to pay a steep price. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees May Have Quietly Found The Bullpen Help They Desperately Needed
When the Yankees signed Paul Blackburn to a one-year deal after his release from the Mets, it looked like the kind of low-risk move teams make to patch over a bullpen need. Instead, Blackburn has quietly turned into one of the steadier arms in Aaron Boones relief mix, putting up a 0.99 ERA over 36 1/3 innings since mid-May and giving the club a useful option in spots that matter most.
His turnaround has been tied to both a bump in velocity and a change in how he attacks hitters, which has helped him fit into the late-inning picture far better than expected. Boone has already noted how well Blackburn has handled high-leverage situations, and with the trade deadline approaching, the bigger question is whether this unexpected internal answer changes how aggressively the Yankees need to shop for bullpen help. [Read more 🡒]