Twins Land Former Yankees Pitcher

A former New York Yankees pitcher landed with a new team on Tuesday.

Per MLB's transaction log, the Minnesota Twins claimed right-handed reliever Brooks Kriske off waivers from the Chicago Cubs.

Kriske signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in November 2024. He logged a 6.75 ERA over 5 1/3 innings in Cactus League action during spring training and began the season with the Iowa Cubs, the organization's Triple-A Affiliate.

Chicago recalled Kriske on May 24, and he threw two scoreless innings against the Cincinnati Reds that day before getting designated for assignment on May 29.

After clearing waivers, Kriske was outrighted to Triple-A. His contract was later selected by the Cubs on July 12, and he completed three scoreless outings totaling four innings before once again getting DFA'd on August 2.

Now that he's with the Twins, Kriske should have plenty of opportunity to stick around in the majors after the club traded away 10 players ahead of last week's deadline.

The Yankees selected Kriske, who attended the University of Southern California, in the sixth round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He underwent Tommy John surgery in August of that year, however, and wouldn't return until halfway through the 2018 campaign.

After posting ERAs of 1.57 and 2.08 in the minor leagues during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, respectively, Kriske made his big league debut for New York on July 29 during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. In four appearances and 3 2/3 innings that year, he recorded a 14.73 ERA.

Kriske began 2021 with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, though he'd come up to the majors on multiple occasions and put up a 15.26 ERA in 7 2/3 frames. The Yankees DFA'd him on September 14, however, and the Baltimore Orioles would claim him off waivers.

Across four outings and 3 2/3 innings for the Orioles, Kriske pitched to a 12.27 ERA. He spent 2022 with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan and logged a 2.57 ERA over 18 games (21 innings) for the club.

The Kansas City Royals signed Kriske to a minor league pact in December 2022. He eventually made his way onto the 26-man roster and recorded a 4.05 ERA in 6 2/3 innings, though he was granted his release in July and returned to NPB, this time playing for the Saitama Seibu Lions.

After Kriske appeared in 14 contests for the team and posted a 1.93 ERA, he spent the entire 2024 campaign with the Triple-A affiliates of the Reds (Louisville) and Orioles (Norfolk). In 50 games and 58 1/3 frames across that span, the 31-year-old logged a 3.39 ERA.

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