Utility Player Cooper Hummel According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, his minor league deal with the Yankees sparked a release clause. The trigger clause made Yanks decide whether to add Hummel to their roster, trade him or release him. Since he triggered the clause yesterday (Wednesday), the team will need to make a decision for a while on Saturday.
Hummel, 30, signed a minor league contract with the Yanks in April. He started the season on the Astros' roster, but this year was out of choice. During spring training, he hit .316/.435/.447, but the Astronauts decided not to take him to the squad on the opening day. He was designated as a mission, clearing waivers and being elected as a free agent. That freed him to sign with the Yankees.
He only played three games and then got on the unknown problem. He recovered him from Illinois on May 10 and has since played in seven more games.
That doesn't keep the Yankees moving forward, but Hamel has an impressive minor league record overall. From 2021 to now, he has made 1,460 boards at the Grade A level with a walking rate of 17.6% and a strikeout rate of 20.8%. His .284/.419/.475 combination line translates to 132 WRC+. He did this while bounced around the diamonds and wore it in the catcher and four corner positions. He also received double-digit steals totals in 2023 and 2024.
Despite all the fun things done among minors, he has only 235 major league appearances, most of which are the Rattlesnakes in 2022. His .159/.255/.275 series obviously had much less work on the farm in the Grand Slam than he did.
The next few days will provide some clear information for the Yankees or any other club to be willing to give Hamel’s major league time. As mentioned earlier, he has no choice, but he currently only has one year and three days of service. This means that even if he was called today, he wouldn't be able to achieve two years. So, the Yankees or some other club can make him professional for the rest of the season and still have five seasons of club control thereafter.
Image courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Image
