The Pittsburgh Pirates designated right-hander Camilo Doval for assignment Tuesday, less than two months after acquiring him from the New York Yankees, via the MLB transaction log.
The corresponding move activated veteran Kirby Yates from the injured list as the Bucs play out the string.
For Yankees fans, the news lands as quiet confirmation that New York read the room correctly in early August.
Doval arrived in the Bronx at the 2025 trade deadline from the San Francisco Giants as a proven late-inning arm with a 2023 All-Star nod and 39 saves that season.
The electric cutter and mid-90s-plus heat that once made him one of the National League’s most feared closers never fully translated in pinstripes. Command issues followed him. In 44 appearances before the 2026 deadline, he posted a 4.54 ERA with the Yankees and had been pushed toward lower-leverage work.
On Aug. 1, Brian Cashman’s front office flipped him to Pittsburgh for Double-A catcher Omar Alfonzo and 18-year-old outfielder Luis Cruz, sending cash to offset most of the remaining salary on Doval’s $6.1 million deal.
Alfonzo ranked among the Pirates’ better catching prospects at the time. Cruz was a lottery ticket. The Yankees treated Doval as a change-of-scenery candidate they no longer needed to bet on themselves.
Pittsburgh hoped a new city and a bullpen in need of help would unlock the old version. It did not. In 20 games and 19 innings with the Pirates, Doval went 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA, 23 strikeouts, and 14 walks.
The walk rate jumped after the trade. Manager Don Kelly said the club wanted to maximize innings from younger arms and bulk pitchers down the stretch. Doval, who still has one year of arbitration remaining, was likely headed for non-tender anyway.
The speed of the DFA is the tell. Pittsburgh paid real prospect capital for a high-upside reliever still under control through 2027 and cut him before the season even ended.
That suggests the stuff that once sat 100 mph and generated ground balls has been accompanied by too much traffic on the bases for two different organizations this year.
From a Yankees perspective, the deal already looked like a reasonable subtraction of a declining asset. Seeing the Pirates reach the same conclusion so quickly makes it look better.
New York added organizational depth at catcher and a young outfield piece while offloading a pitcher whose command problems had become a pattern.
Doval’s 109 career saves and electric arm mean someone may still claim him off waivers. The Yankees, however, already moved on—and the results in Pittsburgh suggest they were right to do so.
