Opening day is only four days away, but Yankees general manager Brian Cashman isn’t done tinkering with his expected final roster. Just a day after acquiring a healthy, more reliable backup receiver in Jose Trevino in exchange for off-option reliever Albert Abreu, the Yankees sent another reliever out of town. Well, maybe the best wording is “out of the borough” because Joely Rodríguez won’t have much to do, because the southpaw was. negotiated to the Mets in exchange for right-hander Miguel Castro.

Rodríguez came from Texas to the Yankees in Joey Gallo’s big trade at the 2021 trade deadline and acquitted himself well during his few months in the Bronx. He threw a 2.84 ERA and 3.01 FIP over 19 innings, going an 8.1 K/8 and 2.8 BB/9 while allowing just one homer. He was perfectly fine, and it was hardly surprising when the Yankees brought him back for 2022 after initially turning down his option to rework his contract.

However, the Yankees clearly see more potential in right-hander Castro.

Castro might be a household name for Yankees fans, as he first found the Blue Jays in 2015 before going to Colorado in the Troy Tulowitzki trade. He returned to the AL East with the 2017 Orioles and spent the next three and a half years in Baltimore until transferring to the Mets at the 2020 trade deadline.

From now on, Castro will wear the stripes. Last year, he had a 116+ ERA in 70.1 innings at Queens, recording impressive rates of 9.9 K/9s and 6.1 H/9s. It was difficult to get in touch with Castro, but his biggest problem was control. This has been the story for the vast majority of his career as he has a career 4.8 BB/9 and he was 5.5 BB/9 in 2021.

Castro, 27, is three years younger than Rodríguez and Baseball Savant likes the promise of his talent a little more (and Rodríguez’s spring training speed and health have also raised red flags). Castro sat in the 98th percentile for fastball speed in 2021 and was in the 93rd percentile for average outing speed. His hard hit percentile was also 85th percentile, and his smell percentage was also 87th, adding to what H/9 suggested Castro was hard to hit. So on the rare occasion when opposing hitters get hits against Castro, it’s not quality contact, that’s for sure.

The Yankees need to be confident they can reduce Castro’s walking issues a bit and really focus on what his repertoire could bring to the table in their bullpen. They lost a decent southpaw to Rodríguez, but with Aroldis Chapman, Lucas Luetge and Wandy Peralta (and possibly Manny Bañuelos) already in their bullpen, they weren’t doing badly for southpaws. They could afford to take a chance on Castro, and considering what pitching coach Matt Blake and his team have done with others in 2021, it looks like he’s worth it.