The Yankees may have a little roster churn coming, but Jonathan Ornelas doesn’t look like the kind of departure that should keep them up at night.
On Thursday afternoon, BBWAA member and baseball reporter Francys Romero reported that the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre infielder has an opt-out in his Yankees contract and “he will opt out this week, making him a free agent.” Romero also reported when Ornelas signed in November that the deal came with “an invitation to MLB Spring Training camp and a midseason opt-out.”
Ornelas has made the most of his time with the RailRiders. In 75 games and 254 at-bats, he hit .299/.362/.480 with nine home runs, 39 RBIs, 21 walks, nine stolen bases on 13 attempts and an .842 OPS.
He also logged more than 128 innings at shortstop, second base and third base, giving the Yankees a flexible infield option. Baseball Savant has him at a 48.4% hard-hit rate and a 114.3 mph max elevation.
That production explains why he’d want a shot somewhere else. The problem is that New York doesn’t really have a clean path for him. Anthony Volpe and Ryan McMahon have struggled at shortstop and third base, respectively, but not enough for the Yankees to put Ornelas on the 40-man roster and see what happens.
His big-league résumé also gives the Yankees little reason to force the issue. Ornelas, a former 2018 third-round pick, has played 32 MLB games for the Rangers and Braves from 2023 to 2025 and hit .208 with a .263 on-base percentage and .245 slugging percentage. He struck out in 20 of his 53 at-bats, a 37.7% rate, and his expected batting average was .187, well below the MLB average of .243.
That doesn’t mean he’ll be without a market for long. Teams are always hunting for infield depth, and his Triple-A numbers plus his draft pedigree should earn him another look.
It just doesn’t appear to be a fit for the Yankees, who would likely want a much bigger upgrade at third base or shortstop before making room for him. He also wouldn’t jump over Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base, and the club would probably wait for George Lombard Jr. to get healthy before turning to another infield prospect.
Ornelas’s run in the organization was short, but productive enough to get attention. Now the Yankees move on, and Ornelas gets another chance to find a landing spot.
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