BALTIMORE -- It was another bad night for Yankees long reliever Esmil Rogers -- two innings against the Baltimore Orioles in a lost cause in which he allowed five hits and four runs, although just one was earned due to a throwing error by Mark Teixeira -- and it only got worse when it was finally over.
Although manager Joe Girardi praised Rogers' effort -- "Tonight I thought he threw the ball pretty good, actually. There were a lot of plays we didn’t make behind him. That’s the frustrating part for him," the manager said -- he added, almost in an afterthought, that the club had outrighted the 29-year-old right-hander.
Now it is up to Rogers, a six-year veteran who is out of minor-league options, to decide if he will accept an assignment to Triple-A Scranton or ask for his release and become a free agent.
"Our hope is that he decides to come back and he goes down to Triple-A and starts and gets his stuff right,” Girardi said.
Rogers appeared in 18 games, mostly in mop-up type situations, and had a 1-1 record and 6.27 ERA. What was worse, however, was that he had allowed 41 hits in 33 innings and walked 14 batters, and had allowed seven of 15 inherited runners to score.
Girardi did not say who would be added to the roster to replace Rogers, but it had been reported earlier by several news outlets that the Yankees had signed veteran right-hander Sergio Santos. GM Brian Cashman would not confirm the signing before the game.
