The Yankees made two moves to potentially bolster their pitching on Thursday, claiming right-handers Roansy Contreras from the Baltimore Orioles and Allan Winans from the Atlanta Braves.
Both players add flexibility to New York’s pitching staff and have a chance to be interesting options in the rotation and/or bullpen.
Contreras, 25, split time between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Angels last season and owned a 4.35 ERA (1.38 WHIP) over 49 games (three starts) across 68.1 innings pitched. He also added two saves in four opportunities, all for Los Angeles, and finished 14 games for the Halos.
Since then, the Dominican-born pitcher has been claimed by the Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles before the Yankees scooped him up following his latest DFA.
Before getting sent to the Angels, Contreras had spent three and a half seasons in Pittsburgh where he was used mostly as a starter. During that time he went 9-12 in 53 games (30 starts) and pitched to a 4.83 ERA (1.42 WHIP). Despite walking 80 batters in 182.2 innings with the Pirates the righty proved he was capable of getting hitters out, striking out 161.
Winans, on the other hand, is more of an unknown.
Drafted by the Mets in the 17th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Winans made his debut in 2023 with the Braves at 27 years old and in six starts went 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA (1.39 WHIP), striking out 34 batters in 32.1 innings. The following season, Winans made just two starts for Atlanta and was hit hard, owning a 15.26 ERA.
Still, the 29-year-old has a track record in the minors. Across three seasons pitching for the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, Winans went 16-10 with a 3.23 ERA (1.14 WHIP) primarily as a starter.
The Yankees enter the 2025 season with a starting rotation consisting of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Luis Gil penciled in with Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman also in the mix, although New York has reportedly been shopping Stroman this offseason.
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