Yankees trade embattled reliever Camilo Doval to Pirates for two young prospects

The New York Yankees officially put an end to the Camilo Doval Experiment and traded the righty reliever to the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to multiple outlets. They got two prospects in return, per Francys Romero: Double-A catcher Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz from the Bucs’ Dominican Summer League affiliate. Mark Feinsand also confirmed those names coming back to New York.

Doval wraps up his Yankees’ tenure with a 4.63 ERA in 58.1 innings between 2025 and 2026. In contrast, he had put up a 3.29 ERA in five years with the San Francisco Giants before becoming one of the Yankees’ 2025 deadline acquisitions.

Doval was having another subpar year in 2026, sporting a 4.54 ERA in 39.2 innings. He has to be one of the most frustrating cases in Matt Blake’s tenure as the Yankees’ pitching coach, as he had elite velocity and ground-ball rates, in the 96th and 97th percentile, respectively. However, the results were rarely there, as the right-hander dealt with inconsistency and poor command most of the time. Doval could simply never generate the kinds of strikeouts and whiffs that are often associated with triple-digit velo.

Doval, 29, goes to a Pirates team that is trying to contend this year and boasts a 55-56 record as of Saturday. As for the Yankees, they move on from one of their late-inning relievers, which signals that they might be on the market for another one.