The Yankees have an open roster spot to fill before Tuesday night’s home game against the Colorado Rockies, but the usual suspects are already off the board.
Elmer Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A after Sunday’s loss in San Diego, creating the opening. Aaron Judge won’t take it, even though the Yankees captain is expected back this week after missing more than half the season with a rib stress fracture. He still has one box to check: facing pitching in a live BP.
Clarke Schmidt also isn’t the answer yet. The right-hander is working his way back from June 2025 Tommy John surgery and, after tossing two scoreless, hitless innings Sunday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Aaron Boone said he is still a “couple rehab outings” away.
The other injured pitchers in the mix - left-handed starter Ryan Weathers and right-handed relievers Fernando Cruz and Angel Chivilli - are not candidates either.
Neither are Triple-A arms Brendan Beck, Yerry de Los Santos and Bradley Hanner, despite recent stints with the Yankees. League rules require pitchers to spend 15 days in the minors after being sent down unless they are replacing an injured player, and Tuesday is day 10 for Beck and de los Santos, and day 14 for Hanner.
That leaves a name most Yankees fans probably haven’t spent much time on: Trevor MacGregor.
MacGregor is a non-roster pitcher with no big-league experience, and most of his season was spent on the 60-day IL after a shoulder injury in spring training. Since being added to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s roster on Aug. 13, though, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-hander has been rolling.
In seven Triple-A outings, he owns an 0.73 ERA, with two runs, one earned, allowed over 12.1 innings, plus 13 strikeouts and four walks. Add in four rehab appearances - three with low-A Tampa and one with high-A Hudson Valley - and he has a 1.00 ERA in 11 games.
MacGregor, 28, signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees on Dec. 12 after spending 2025 in the Rangers and Brewers organizations. Across 36 Double-A and Triple-A games, he put up a 4.94 ERA.
The Tarpon Springs, Fla., native was originally a Pirates second-round pick in 2016 and landed on MLB Pipeline’s top-30 prospect list in four straight years: No. 16 in 2017, No. 26 in 2018, No. 20 in 2019 and No. 26 in 2020.
There’s one more wrinkle for the Yankees: they have no open spot on the 40-man roster, so a move will be needed to bring MacGregor up. And with Judge and Schmidt both on the 60-day IL, the team will have to make room for them soon, too.
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Aaron Judge Return Suddenly Looks Closer Than Yankees Fans Expected
The Yankees opened a roster spot by optioning Elmer Rodriguez to Triple-A, and that small move has quickly taken on bigger meaning as Aaron Judges return comes into view. Aaron Boone also said Clarke Schmidt is not ready to be activated from rehab, which only adds to the sense that the club is juggling timelines while trying to get one of its biggest bats back in the lineup.
Judge has already made clear he feels optimistic about returning and would prefer not to go through a minor league rehab assignment. The Yankees are weighing a major league-level rehab approach instead, and with a place now available on the roster, the path toward bringing him back looks a lot less crowded than it did just a few days ago. [Read more 🡒]