This isn’t a surprise, but over the weekend Brian Cashman confirmed to reporters the Yankees are unlikely to make a last minute August waiver trade. A player must be in the organization by 11:59pm ET next Monday, August 31st, to be eligible for the postseason roster. That’s a hard deadline and there are no exceptions.
“Nothing that’s gotten to me. I’ve done a lot of claims. I’ve never been awarded any of them,” said Cashman to Dan Martin when asked about claiming players on trade waivers. Every team claims lots of players in August — Peter Gammons hears there have been more claims this month than ever before — but trade waivers are revocable, and the vast majority who are claimed get pulled back. Usually only players with favorable contracts get claimed.
It’s important to note circumstances have changed in recent days. Cashman told reporters the Yankees are unlikely to make an August trade before CC Sabathia’s potentially season-ending knee injury further thinned out the team’s rotation depth. They may have since changed course and started scrounging for an extra arm or two since Cashman’s comments. These things can change in an instant. Either way, the GM doesn’t regret his trade deadline inactivity.
“I wouldn’t say vindicated,” said Cashman to George King when asked about the performances of Greg Bird and Luis Severino. “The criticism comes either way. Just do what you think is right and hope it works out that way. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m very comfortable with the positions we took and why we took them. I wish I could have improved us. I certainly tried, but we were unable to.
“If it was going to cost us Severino or Judge or Bird or Warren or Mitchell or Wilson or Shreve, those were all the guys, combinations that people were like, ‘You’re not going do Severino or Judge or Bird? Well, I need Wilson and Mitchell or Wilson and Shreve.’ None of it was working. So I felt like it dictated the position we took, which is ‘We have a good team, we’re trying to improve it.’ Just felt like nothing made sense under those circumstances.”
If you’re interested, MLB Daily Dish has a full list of players reportedly placed on trade waivers this month. Guys who clear can be traded, guys who have been claimed can only be traded to the claiming team, and guys who have been claimed and pulled back can’t be traded at all. (Well, they can be placed on trade waivers again, but they’re irrevocable the second time around.) There’s really not much to see. Not many exciting names.
The Yankees have not been very active in the waiver trade market in recent years. They acquired Chad Gaudin in August 2009, Steve Pearce in August 2012, and Brendan Ryan in September 2013. That’s about it. Spare parts for depth, not any sort of difference maker. Significant upgrades after July 31st are pretty rare. The Yankees could make a small tweak following Sabathia’s injury but I doubt it. And, even if they are planning to make a move, there’s no reason for Cashman to say so. Nothing to gain.
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