Yankees Rumors: No Hard Feelings for Francisco Cervelli

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com believes New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli is good enough to be in the majors as a backup. Heyman says Cervelli, who the Yankees optioned to Triple-A prior to the start of the regular season, could help teams such as the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels.

Cervelli told Heyman that he doesn’t harbor any hard feeling against the Yankees due to their decision to start him in the minors this season.

Cervelli appeared set to enter the season as Russell Martin’s backup behind the plate, but a late series of transactions saw the 26-year-old start the year in the minors. He was understandably disappointed, noting the Yankees told him his demotion wasn’t a result of anything he did wrong.

Cervelli had an option remaining; current Yankees backup catcher Chris Stewart didn’t. New York wanted to improve their catching depth and the easiest way to keep their trio of backstops in the organization was to option Cervelli to Triple-A.

While he doesn’t hold any grudges for how he was handled by the Yankees, Cervelli did tell Heyman that he wants to play in the big leagues again.

Over parts of four seasons at the major league level, Cervelli has hit at a combined clip of .272/.338/.354.