The Yankees are set to bring in veteran right-hander Justin Topa, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post reporting that New York plans to select his contract.
Topa is not on the 40-man roster, so the Yankees will need to create room before the move becomes official. That part should be straightforward, since Giancarlo Stanton can be transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Stanton has been sidelined since April with a calf strain and then picked up another injury during a rehab assignment. Because the Yankees are off today, the club may not make anything official until tomorrow.
For Topa, this is another stop in a season that has already taken him through several organizations. The 35-year-old began the year with the Twins, but Minnesota released him after he allowed 17 runs in 19 innings out of the bullpen. He has since signed minor league deals with the Royals, Blue Jays and Yankees.
There have still been some encouraging signs. At Triple-A with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Topa has allowed one run in five innings since joining the Yankees’ top affiliate, though he has recorded only two strikeouts in that stretch.
Across 25 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season, he owns a 1.75 ERA, but the underlying numbers are less impressive. His 13.3% strikeout rate is among the lowest marks around, while his 8% walk rate and 45.9% ground-ball rate are solid but still below the standards he set during his best major league stretches.
Topa’s track record shows why the Yankees are taking a look. He had strong runs with the 2023 Mariners and the 2025 Twins, though injuries have been a major part of his career.
In Seattle in 2023, he logged 69 innings with a 2.61 ERA, a 21.9% strikeout rate, a 6.5% walk rate and a 56.7% ground-ball rate. With Minnesota this season before his release, he posted a 3.90 ERA over 60 innings with an 18.3 K%, 6.7 BB% and 47.7 GB%.
The pitch data tells a similar story of a pitcher trying to find workable version of himself again. Topa’s sinker sat at 95 mph during his best season with the Mariners, but it averaged 93.4 mph with the Twins earlier this year and 93.9 mph in Triple-A.
He has also shifted away from his low-80s slider, cutting back on it in favor of a low-90s cutter. That change makes sense after hitters crushed the slider early this season.
Opponents wiped out his chase and swinging-strike numbers on the pitch and tagged it for two homers and a double before Minnesota let him go.
In 168 2/3 big league innings, Topa carries a career 4.27 ERA with a 19.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 52.9% ground-ball rate. He’s not coming in as a bat-missing weapon, but he still throws strikes and gets ground balls at useful rates.
If he can translate what he’s done in Triple-A and hang onto a bullpen job under Aaron Boone, he would be postseason-eligible. That’s a long way from being a real consideration, though.
And because Topa has more than five years of service and cannot be optioned, he’ll have to keep his place or risk being designated for assignment and sent back through waivers.
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