Justin Topa's stint with the Yankees didn't last long, and he's now been designated for assignment.
New York activated left-hander Max Fried off the 15-day IL as the corresponding move, leaving the team with two open 40-man spots.
Topa signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees in mid-August and got added to the active roster on Aug. 25. He barely lasted a few days.
Before the cut, he made two appearances, including Saturday's 6-0 loss to the Red Sox, throwing three innings of four-hit, one-run ball with three strikeouts against one walk.
That run was unearned, and the underlying performance was actually decent given the small sample.
It just wasn't enough to save the roster spot once Fried was ready to return.
Topa's season has bounced around quite a bit. He spent time with the Twins, Royals, and Blue Jays before landing in New York.
Why the numbers tell a rough story for the 35-year-old
Minnesota released him in May after two-plus years in the organization, following a brutal start to the season.
He allowed 17 earned runs on 27 hits, including four homers, with 11 walks across 19 innings there, an 8.05 ERA far from his 3.90 mark over 60 innings last year.
His sinker velocity has been sliding too. Now sitting at 93.4 mph, he's lost about 2 mph off that pitch since a career year with the Mariners back in 2023.
Seattle traded him to the Twins in the Jorge Polanco deal that following winter, a swap that once looked like a solid value pickup.
For his career, Topa carries a 4.22 ERA with a 19.2% strikeout rate and a strong 52.8% ground-ball rate across 170.2 big-league innings.
With more than five years of service time, he can't be optioned, which puts him at the start of a 48-hour waiver process now.
Whether another club takes a flier on him, or this stretch of bouncing between five organizations in one year continues, depends entirely on what happens over the next two days.
Do you think another team claims Justin Topa off waivers before the season ends?
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