Yankees non-tender Albert Abreu, two others

Major League Baseball’s non-tender deadline passed at 8pm ET on Friday, and after the Yankees cleared out Jake Bauers through a minor trade with the Brewers, they made three more cuts. Per their official Twitter account, they have non-tendered a trio of relievers: righties Albert Abreu and Lou Trivino, and southpaw Anthony Misiewicz.

Abreu has been associated with the Yankees for the longest, as outside of a two-month sabbatical to Texas and Kansas City in 2022, he was a part of the organization dating back to November 2016. Originally acquired as part of the old Brian McCann trade with the Astros, Abreu made it to the majors in 2020 and spent a good chunk of the next few seasons ping-ponging back and forth on the Scranton Shuttle while trying to carve out a role.

Dealt away for catcher Jose Trevino prior to Opening Day 2022, Abreu was back in New York by mid-June and pitched in 67 games and 84.2 innings between then and the end of 2023. Aside from his initial six-week stretch upon returning to the Bronx, he was never much more than a middling reliever.

Trivino also came to New York via a trade with an AL West team, but he was expected to serve a more important role. He was part of the Frankie Montas deal with the A’s at the 2022 Trade Deadline, and while Montas was injured and ineffective, Trivino held up his end of the bargain in 2022 with a 1.66 ERA in 21.2 innings down the stretch (plus four scoreless appearances in the playoffs).

By spring 2023 though, the veteran’s elbow started barking, and he never got into a regular season game. Trivino went under the knife for Tommy John surgery in early May, all but ensuring that the Yankees would non-tender him. Brian Cashman has to be begging that none of the players he traded to Oakland at that deadline ever pan out.

The last of the relievers to be sent packing was Misiewicz, who was only briefly a Yankee. The journeyman joined the Triple-A team from Detroit in July and came up to the Bronx when they were desperate for warm bodies in the bullpen in September. The most notable part of his time in New York was quite scary, as a comebacker in Pittsburgh that caromed off his head ultimately ended his season.

No other news emerged from the Yankees’ non-tender deadline, meaning that catcher Kyle Higashioka is safe for now. Part of the organization since being drafted in 2008, Higgy is due for an arbitration raise and even with this date passing, the Yankees might still decide to trade him away and let Trevino and prospect Austin Wells share catching duties in 2024.