The Yankees added infielder Caleb Durbin and catcher Jesus Rodriguez to their 40-man roster, the team announced Tuesday night.
The move protects both players from being selected in the 2024 MLB Rule 5 Draft in early December.
Durbin, 24, is arguably the more notable addition to the roster thanks in large part to GM Brian Cashman mentioning the young infielder as a potential starting second baseman in 2025.
In the GM Meetings earlier this month, Cashman was asked about Gleyber Torres and potential options at second base once the team declined Torres’ club option.
“What are our internal options? Is that moving Jazz [Chisholm Jr.] over to second if you don’t re-sign Gleyber?” he said. “Do you move him over to second? Do you look at Caleb Durbin, your internal candidate coming up?” Cashman continued. “Is there external candidates that you run into that you can import as a free agent that might not be Gleyber if it’s not Gleyber? Maybe you bring Gleyber back? Is there a trade candidate? Our job is to evaluate all of it and then how it settles in with the rest of the roster. Those are things that we will be doing.”
In four minor league seasons with the Braves and Yankees, Durbin batted .269/.374/.407 with 64 doubles, 22 home runs, 153 RBI, and 110 stolen bases in 281 games. In 2024, the infielder batted .275/.388/.451 with 25 doubles, 10 home runs, 60 RBI and 31 SB in 90 combined games with Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A.
Durbin was also named a “Fall Star” for this year’s Arizona Fall League and the league’s “Breakout Prospect of the Year” after setting the Fall League single-season record with 29 stolen bases.
Rodriguez, 22, hit .302/.375/.481 (89-for-295) with 15 doubles, 10 home runs and 47 RBI, 33BB in 2024 with HIgh-A and Double-A. The backstop has played most of his games behind the plate but has experience at third base and left field.