New York Yankees sign former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher

The move showed up on the MiLB transactions log as a Dec. 19 signing and an assignment to Scranton, Wilkes-Barre. Reports out of New York also say he'll get a big league spring camp invite.

Kloffenstein is 25, listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, and Toronto took him 88th overall in the 2018 draft. He never quite turned into that mid-rotation prospect, but he's logged 587.2 minor league innings with 609 strikeouts.

His road got bumpy after the Blue Jays sent him to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Jordan Hicks deadline deal. He reached the majors on June 20, 2024, tossing a clean inning in his lone MLB appearance.

During his last season in the Toronto system, he went 2-9 with a 5.66 ERA, 103 strikeouts, and a 1.59 WHIP in 90.2 innings. At Triple-A Buffalo, the long ball hurt most, with a 6.26 ERA and 20 homers allowed over 82 innings.

That's the exact kind of profile the Yankees try to clean up, especially for a sinker-heavy right-hander. Tracking data shows he leans on a low-90s sinker and an upper-80s cutter, then mixes a slider and changeup.

In Scranton, the first goal is simple, pound the zone and keep those sinkers off the fat part of the plate. If the command stabilizes, he's the kind of arm who can cover bulk innings when the rotation gets stretched.

The Yankees aren't buying the 2025 results, they're buying the body, the arm, and the draft pedigree. Show me sharper strike throwing in spring games, and this signing suddenly feels a lot more interesting.

Source: CBS Sports