Yankees agree to trade struggling reliever Camilo Doval to Pirates: Source

The New York Yankees on Saturday agreed to trade struggling reliever Camilo Doval to the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for two minor leaguers – catcher Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz – according to league sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been completed. The trade is currently pending a medical review.

It has been a nightmarish season for Doval, whom the Yankees acquired from the San Francisco Giants at last year’s trade deadline. Doval fell out of favor in Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s bullpen over the past several weeks and had been relegated to mop-up duty of late.

During the second game of a July 22 doubleheader against the Pirates, it became clear the Yankees no longer trusted him in high-leverage situations, even with a depleted bullpen, and his days with the organization were numbered. Boone opted for starting pitcher Will Warren to close out the game, which the righty had not done since his college days. (Reliever Tim Hill ended up recording the final out.)

The Yankees were optimistic about Doval heading into this season. It was one of the reasons the club opted not to spend lavishly on its bullpen in free agency in the offseason. Boone and the pitching department believed they had cleaned up Doval’s delivery to improve his strike-throwing, which, theoretically, should have been key to success in 2026. Instead, he was a disaster.

“We expect more,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said last week in Philadelphia. “There should be a higher level of production out of Camilo. He’s capable of it. He’s got one of the most-talented arms on our team.”

The Pirates have lost their past four games but still sit two and a half games out of the third NL wild-card spot at 55-56. With recent acquisitions of relievers Brandon Eisert and Ron Marinaccio, as well as the release of former closer Dennis Santana and several call-ups, the Pirates have been looking to make changes in their bullpen, whose 4.38 ERA is currently 23rd in MLB.

Alfonzo, 22, who was the Pirates’ No. 19 prospect according the MLB Pipeline, has hit .239/.338/.420 with a .758 OPS in 60 games with Double-A Altoona this year. He also lost his mother and sister in the Venezuela earthquakes in late June. Cruz, 18, has an .843 OPS in 50 at-bats with the Pirates’ Dominican rookie affiliate.

Doval did not reach the heights the Yankees expected. Doval posted a 4.54 ERA while striking out the lowest percentage of batters he’s faced over his six-year career. He remains one of MLB’s best at inducing groundballs, but opponents have hit him hard, as he ranks in the bottom 10th percentile in both average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage.

Despite continuing to light up radar guns, Doval’s Stuff+, which measures the physical characteristics of an individual pitch, on his sinker and cutter have each graded out as the worst of his career. There have been few signs this season that a turnaround is likely, but he does have one more year of club control remaining before being eligible for free agency in 2028.

There is one clear positive for Doval this season: He’s been devastating against right-handed hitters. Righties have a .478 OPS against him. Doval is as close to unusable as a pitcher can get, however, when lefties are in the batter’s box. Left-handed hitters have a .999 OPS against him.

Doval can be tantalizing on the mound because few pitchers can throw 100-plus mph cutters and sinkers, but that hardly matters when he’s ineffective for the majority of his outings. With Doval gone, the Yankees’ bullpen may have gotten better simply by addition by subtraction.