Yankees Rumors: Three Possible Waiver Wire Candidates

The New York Yankees have a very talented team and a deep farm system.  However, they could still use some help down the stretch as they attempt to win the American League East Division.  As the trade deadline has expired, the waiver wire (and Yankees rumors around it) is just getting started.

The New York Yankees are currently 68-38 on the season.  If they were in the American League Central Division, they would hold a comfortable 9.5 game lead over the Cleveland Indians for first place.  If they were in the American League West Division, they would hold a modest 2.5 game lead over the Houston Astros for first place. Yankees rumors would be for expanding their first-place lead.

However, the Yankees are not in those divisions as they are in the American League East Division.  Within their own division, they currently trail the Boston Red Sox by 5.5 games.  Although they have a good enough record to be 6.0 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics for the first Wild Card spot, the Yankees do not want to be in the Wild Card game for a second straight season.

Due to this, the Yankees will be looking at any and all upgrade options as they attempt to overcome the Red Sox for an AL East Division championship.

As the trade deadline has come and gone, the Yankees still have an opportunity to claim players that other teams place on waivers.  Any player that is claimed and acquired from now until August 31st will be eligible for the postseason roster.  The Yankees were very active at the trade deadline and they will also be active on the waiver wire.

Let’s take a look at a few players the organization could attempt to acquire:

The Yankees were active in the Manny Machado sweepstakes despite having a very talented third baseman in Miguel Andujar already in the mix.  Andujar is very solid on the offensive side, but there are question marks about his defensive ability.  Due to this, I would expect the team to have interest in a former American League MVP that plays both sides of the field very well.

Josh Donaldson is currently on the disabled list with left calf tightness, but he is expected to return to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup soon.  If he is able to remain healthy, he could be a great addition to the Yankees lineup.

In 2015, Donaldson won the American League Most Valuable Player award after he hit 41 home runs to go along with 123 runs batted in as a member of the Blue Jays.  He held a .371 on-base percentage and a .568 slugging percentage in that season as well.

Normally, a player with this amount of potential on offense would not make it to a team with the second best record in the MLB in the waiver process.  However, he may pass through due to his salary combined with his poor performance to this point.

A team that places a claim on Donaldson would have to weigh the risk of taking on the remaining prorated portion of his $23 million salary for this season.  As the former MVP has only totaled 5 home runs and 16 runs batted in on the season, teams may not want to take the monetary risk which would could him to reach the Yankees in the waiver process.

Despite his injury troubles limiting him to 36 games on the season, Donaldson has still put up a .333 on-base percentage and a .423 slugging percentage.  When healthy, he has compiled a career .366 OBP and a career .507 SLG.

Although Andujar provides a great .324 OBP and a .497 SLG as a rookie, he does not perform well on the defensive side.  To this point in the season, he has given the Yankees a 2.5 offensive WAR and a -1.1 defensive WAR.  As a comparison, Donaldson provided a 4.5 offensive WAR and a 0.5 defensive WAR in 2017.

A healthy Donaldson would give the Yankees a very formidable left side of the infield on defense without losing anything on offense.

The Yankees have already made a flurry of moves to acquire pitching prior to the trade deadline.  However, with Sonny Gray and Luis Severino struggling, the Yankees may look for even more pitching depth.

James Shields is currently having an underrated season on the Chicago White Sox and he could provide a lot of value to the Yankees.  Despite holding a 4-13 record through 24 games in 2018, his numbers are surprisingly solid.

Shields has compiled 144.0 innings pitched on the season.  In those innings, he holds a 4.68 FIP and a 1.29 WHIP.  Although these numbers may not look spectacular, they compare very closely to a current Yankees starter that any team would love to have down the stretch.

CC Sabathia currently holds a 4.55 FIP and a 1.29 WHIP through 104.2 innings pitched in 2018.  As the Bronx Bombers are confident every time Sabathia takes the mound, they could end up having that same amount of confidence in Shields due to the similar FIP and WHIP.

As the White Sox have struggled mightily this season, Shields has not been discussed in trade chatter.  With the prorated amount of his $21 million still owed for 2018 and a $2 million buyout (or a $16 million team option) for 2019, he will most likely pass through waivers.

Shields does have 11 postseason starts between his time with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals, so big starts down the stretch would not be new to him.  He was given the nickname “Big Game James” for a reason.