Yanks acquire righty Morris, send Florial to Guardians
NEW YORK -- The Yankees moved to address their pitching depth on Tuesday by acquiring right-hander Cody Morris from the Guardians in exchange for outfielder Estevan Florial.
Morris, 27, posted a 6.75 ERA in six relief appearances for Cleveland this past season. Over 13 career appearances (five starts) spanning two big league seasons (2022-23), Morris is 1-2 with a 3.41 ERA to go with 32 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings.
The Yankees lost a significant number of arms in their recent trades for outfielders Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, dealing four pitchers to the Padres in the Soto swap and three to the Red Sox for Verdugo. Having both started and relieved in the Majors, Morris could slot in as a contender for the No. 5 starter’s job or work out of the bullpen.
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Late last week, manager Aaron Boone said the organization is looking forward to seeing what prospects Will Warren, Chase Hampton and Luis Gil will be able to contribute this season. Warren is the Yanks’ No. 8 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and Hampton is ranked fourth. Gil has seen big league time and is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
No. 14 prospect Clayton Beeter also projects to be part of the No. 5 starter competition this spring.
“It definitely hurt, some of the people we’ve given up,” Boone said. “We do feel good about the next crop … there’s a lot of guys that we feel like are pushing up to that next level to be important depth pieces for us this year.”
The Yankees did not project to have room on their roster for Florial, considering general manager Brian Cashman said he does not envision pursuing another outfielder beyond their current arrangement of Soto, Verdugo, Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham.
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Florial, 26, batted .230 (14-for-61) in 19 games for the Yankees this past season. He spent the majority of the year with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, batting .284 with 28 home runs, 79 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in 101 games.
Over parts of four big league seasons with the Yanks, Florial has hit .209 (24-for-115) in 48 career games.