Yankees release Rafael Montero, ending quiet comeback bid

Montero signed a minor league deal with New York hoping to work his way back to a big-league bullpen, but that comeback is officially over. The Yankees cut him loose from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and he never got so much as a September call-up look.

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Yankees Release Rafael Montero t.co/lEDtVtdOAf

This wasn't a smooth ride from the jump. Montero's season got delayed by visa issues that kept him from reporting to camp on time, so he opened the year in extended spring training just trying to build his arm back up before he ever got to Scranton.

Once he did pitch for the RailRiders, the results weren't exactly a knock-down-the-door audition — a 5.68 ERA across 27 innings with 33 strikeouts. Not the kind of line that forces a front office's hand, even for a bullpen as scrutinized as the Yankees'.

Montero's résumé is still notable even if his 2026 fizzled. He was a 2011 international signee who climbed to the No. 3 prospect ranking in the Mets' farm system by 2014, and he later found a home in Houston's bullpen, picking up a ring as part of the Astros' 2022 World Series championship team.

For the Yankees, this is a minor procedural move — clear a Triple-A bullpen spot, keep churning arms behind the scenes. For Montero, an 11-year big leaguer, it's another gut-check moment: he's a free agent again, hunting for whatever team is willing to give a proven veteran arm one more shot.