Yankees announce signing of Carlos Rodón, designate Junior Fernández

The Yankees formally announced their signing of new captain Aaron Judge at a press conference today, and it turns out they will do the same tomorrow with Carlos Rodón. The left-handed starter agreed to a six-year, $162 million deal last week, and will be introduced at Yankee Stadium at 10am EST on Thursday.

With the Rodón move now official, the Yankees had to clear a spot on their 40-man roster. To do so, they designated right-hander Junior Fernández for assignment, whom the club had picked up on waivers last month after he was let go by the Pirates. The 26-year-old sits 98 mph on his fastball, but hasn’t been able to turn that velocity into results, running a 5.17 ERA in 54 big league innings.

As we noted yesterday when the Judge signing was made official, the Yankees still have another 40-man move to make, with reliever Tommy Kahnle yet to be added to the roster. His addition will necessitate some more maneuvering, whether it’s by designating another fringe player, or making a trade. Whatever the team ends up doing, we’ll have the news to you as it comes down.