Michael Tonkin’s tumultuous journey to start the 2024 season has reached the Yankees.
They claimed the right-handed reliever off waivers from the Mets on Thursday, marking the latest stop for Tonkin after he opened the year with the Mets, was dealt to the Twins when designated for assignment and then returned to Queens once Minnesota also DFA’d him.
Now, he’ll pitch for the Mets’ crosstown rival after logging two other appearances for the Mets and hitting waivers for a third time in 17 days.
Tonkin went 1-2 with a 5.14 ERA across five total outings for the Mets, mostly struggling after tossing two scoreless innings on March 29.
He allowed five unearned runs to score in the 10th inning against the Tigers on April 1 and surrendered another three — with two earned — in the 11th inning of another loss.
Then, he was DFA’d and traded to the Twins for cash considerations on April 9.
In his lone appearance with Minnesota, he struck out five across two innings, but a hit batter, a walk and consecutive singles led to two runs.
And four days later, Tonkin was back on waivers.
Tonkin’s career has been filled with movement, too.
He made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2013 and lasted six additional seasons with the organization.
Then, he threw for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2018.
There was a stop with the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League, a stint in the Dominican Winter League and some minor-league deals mixed in.
But there wasn’t any stability following his tenure with the Twins until Tonkin appeared in 45 games for the Braves last year — his most in an MLB season since 2016 — and compiled a 4.28 ERA, leveraging that success into an opportunity with the Mets.
By the end of spring training, he’d secured one of the final spots in their bullpen.
Still, despite the constant shuffling, the Yankees decided to take a chance on Tonkin and add organizational depth to a bullpen currently dealing with injuries to right-handers Jonathan Loaisiga and Tommy Kahnle — with Loaisiga out for the season and Kahnle on the 15-day injured list — at the MLB level.
In a corresponding move, they designated reliever McKinley Moore, whose ERA ballooned to 27.00 through two appearances for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, for assignment to create a spot on their 40-man roster.
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