Carrasco Is Gonzo

Well, that didn’t last long.

The Yankees officially ended the Carlos Carrasco experiment on Tuesday, designating the veteran righty for assignment in a move that was both necessary and about three weeks overdue. Carrasco, 38, gave it all he had, but with a 5.91 ERA and all the signs of a pitcher hanging on by duct tape and guile, the Yankees finally said enough.

The twist? Aaron Boone, in his never-ending quest to say something so painfully useless it makes your brain cramp, decided this was the time to break out one of his all-timers.

“What a phenomenal human being that Carlos is,” said Boone.

Ah, yes. Thanks, Aaron. The Yankees are in a pitching crisis, they just DFA’d a guy with a WHIP that made fans duck for cover, and the best you can muster is a Hallmark card. Not one word about Carrasco’s performance, not a single honest reflection on why the team couldn’t make it work—just that he’s a nice guy. Cool. Maybe Carrasco can help the team with hugs now that he’s gone.

Let’s be clear: Carrasco didn’t pitch well. He earned this DFA with six starts and two relief outings that felt more like sacrifices than appearances. His 7% walk rate was fine, but when you’re only striking out 17.6% of batters and leaving fastballs over the plate like offerings at a buffet, it’s going to catch up with you. It did.

To plug the gap, the Yankees brought up right-hander Yerry De Los Santos from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He joins a bullpen that’s been run ragged, partly because Clarke Schmidt’s Saturday start got scratched due to side soreness. Carrasco had eaten three innings of mop-up work Sunday, so his arm was toast for the time being—and apparently, so was his spot on the roster.

But before we completely close the book, credit where it’s due: Carrasco came to camp on a minor league deal, worked his way onto the Opening Day roster, and handled everything like a pro. He’s been through far worse than getting DFA’d—he beat cancer, after all. That kind of perspective matters. And yes, Boone’s quote may be a broken record of empty platitudes, but Carrasco really is a phenomenal human being. Just maybe not a major-league pitcher anymore.

Still, there’s something tragic about watching the Yankees fumble this. Maybe Carrasco ends up across town with the Mets and turns into the next Clay Holmes—a guy the Yankees also misused until the Pirates and then the Mets figured him out. Wouldn’t be the first time another team made better use of Yankee spare parts.

At the end of the day, the Carrasco story in the Bronx ends not with a bang, but with a Boone-ism: dull, cliché, and totally missing the point. Carrasco is a phenomenal human being. That’s obvious.  Talk about his service and grit. That’s what is most important. That’s the story.  Cookie deserved better than his results, and fans deserved better than that stupid Boone quote.

Godspeed, Carrasco.