Yankees Must Consider DFA for Frustrating Reliever During All-Star Break

The MLB All-Star Break is underway, but it won't last forever, as the Yankees' brief vacation will end when they return to action on Friday for a potential World Series preview with the Dodgers in the Bronx. Although the Yankees have been competitive in the American League, it's safe to say that manager Aaron Boone & Co. need to make a handful of adjustments if they want to resemble legitimate contenders down the stretch and into the postseason.

Upgrading the bullpen is one adjustment that should be a top priority for the Yankees between now and the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline. Despite having the best bullpen ERA in baseball (3.04), New York's relief unit has left much to be desired, with certain veteran arms wearing out their welcome with each passing game.

Whether they want to eventually promote a prospect like Carlos Lagrange or make a splash before the trade deadline, the Yankees will likely need to turn the page on a reliever to make room. That won't be hard to do with the way that a certain pitcher is performing this season.

DFA'ing Camilo Doval should be on Yankees' radar after MLB All-Star Break

As they are this summer, the Yankees wanted to improve their bullpen at the 2025 trade deadline. In addition to acquiring Jake Bird and David Bednar, the Bronx Bombers picked up Camilo Doval from the Giants, sending four prospects back to the Bay Area. The former All-Star posted a 3.29 ERA with 107 saves and 332 strikeouts over 268 innings across five seasons with San Francisco, sparking optimism that he could be just as effective in the Big Apple.

Instead, Doval was a non-factor for the rest of the year, struggling with his command. Those issues bled into the 2026 campaign, where the 29-year-old Dominican hurler owns a 4.58 ERA, 1.358 WHIP and minus-0.8 WAR in 40 appearances (35 1/3 innings). He's allowing a career-worst 9.2 hits and 1.5 home runs per nine innings, while the .744 OPS he's allowed is above the MLB average (.720).

Doval throws hard and is great at inducing ground balls, but that's about it. His 90.7-mph average exit velocity and 48.6% hard-hit rate are in the 10th and third percentiles, respectively, among all pitchers, per Baseball Savant. His minus-3 pitching run value ranks in the 30th percentile, further underscoring just how frustrating he's been.

It'd be one thing if Doval were showing signs of improvement, but that hasn't been the case. It's a small sample size, but he's already sitting at a 4.91 ERA through his first four outings in July, which include issuing five walks to the 25 batters he faced (20.0%) in just 3 2/3 innings. Opposing batters have a .353 batting average against Doval during that stretch, despite his expected BA sitting at .226.

Without a turnaround in sight, the Yankees must seriously consider designating Doval for assignment.

Addition by subtraction

Removing him from the 40-man roster would open a spot for a fresh arm-internal or external-before the seven-day window to trade, waive, or release him begins. Any interested parties would be responsible for the remainder of his $6.1 million contract, meaning there's a good chance that pathway would end with a release.

With Doval gone, the Yankees would have room to promote Lagrange (when healthy), who was moved to the bullpen in Triple-A earlier this season. They could also give Yovanny Cruz a longer MLB run rather than treating him like a yo-yo. Even an under-the-radar prospect like Ben Grable could be a candidate for a late-season promotion.

And if they go down the external route, the Yankees could use Doval's then-vacant roster spot on a potential trade target, like the Cardinals' Riley O'Brien or the Marlins' Peter Fairbanks. On Tuesday, the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported that Padres closer Mason Miller "should" be one of general manager Brian Cashman's top trade targets, making the two-time All-Star another name to monitor.

Any team challenging for a World Series needs a reliable bullpen. The Yankees' relief unit is far from the worst in the majors, but underperforming arms like Doval are preventing it from being even better. DFA'ing the struggling reliever and replacing him with a higher-upside arm needs to be done before the MLB All-Star Break ends, finally squashing a concern that's lingered for too long.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/yankees/onsi as Yankees Must Consider DFA for Frustrating Reliever During All-Star Break.

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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 4:00 PM.