Sep 12, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) walks to the dugout in the middle of the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Friday’s trade between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers did not exactly come at a good time for Nestor Cortes.
The veteran lefty Cortes was sent by the Yankees to the Brewers as part of a package for an All-Star reliever. The move ends Cortes’ time in New York after five total MLB seasons.
Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed that Cortes had a particularly bad way of finding out about the trade. Cortes is currently in Las Vegas celebrating his birthday (Cortes turned 30 earlier this week) and woke up on Friday to a lot of missed calls and texts that had him confused.
The Cuba native Cortes had a nice run with the Yankees and was an All-Star in 2022 (going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP that season). But the final memory of Cortes in pinstripes will be of him giving up an epic grand slam to Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of this year’s World Series. A Cortes trade was probably only a matter of time too after the Yankees handed out a historic contract to another lefty starter just days ago.
