Romero is projected to earn $4.4MM in 2026, which is his final season of arbitration control before free agency. With the Cardinals in rebuild mode, Romero is a logical trade candidate, and moving him now rather than at the trade deadline allows St. Louis to both land a larger return and avoid the risk of an in-season injury to the 29-year-old southpaw.
I felt like [Fried's] command was not as good those final few, Boone said. He's just making so many big pitches, and his stuff was good. He gave us what we needed and felt really good about the outing he put forth, but I felt pretty convicted. Especially we got the double play, it's like, Let's go get one more hitter and be good.
Perhaps the Yankees' biggest September call-up of them all is coming in the form of relief pitcher Ryan Yarbrough's activation off the injured list. The Bronx Bombers have the veteran lefty back in their ranks, making the move during their off-day on Monday ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Astros down in Houston. The 33-year-old has been down since mid-June after suffering an oblique strain.