The Yankees are going to claim right-hander John Schreiber off waivers from the Royals, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. It was reported a couple of days ago that the Royals would be placing Schreiber on waivers. The Yankees have a couple of open spots on the 40-man roster. Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 tomorrow, allowing teams to go from a maximum of 13 pitchers to 14. Therefore, it seems the Yankees won’t need to make a corresponding move to accommodate this claim.
It’s a popular time of year for guys to be placed on waivers, for a few reasons. With just a few weeks left in the season, some teams are out of contention. By placing a player on waivers, they can potentially save a bit of cash, as the claiming team takes on his contract. A player is more likely to be claimed today than in the future because September 1 is the playoff eligibility cutoff.
Players can be placed on waivers without losing their roster spots. A team can therefore put a guy on the wire, hoping for cost savings. If he doesn’t get claimed, he can stay on the team. For a contending club, it’s a chance to add a player for the stretch run and possibly the playoffs, with the only cost being financial.
There have been reports of several players being placed on waivers this week. The Reds put Eugenio Suárez and TJ Friedl out there but both of those players cleared and stay in Cincinnati. The Orioles claimed Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the Mets, in what will almost certainly be the most high-profile claim of the year.
For the Royals, even though they’ve been red hot lately, they are 7.5 games out of a playoff spot and playing out the string. The Yankees are virtually a lock to get into the postseason, as they have a ten-game cushion on the Orioles, who are the top team not currently in playoff position. They also recently lost Fernando Cruz and Ryan Weathers to the injured list, dealing a couple of blows to the pitching staff.
Adding Schreiber is a buy-low move for the Yanks, as he is not having his best season. His 3.65 earned run average is fine but there’s a lot of good luck propping that up. Under the hood, while his 45.4% ground ball rate is solid, his 17.7% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate are both subpar figures. More runs would have crossed the plate if not for a .248 batting average on balls in play and 75.6% strand rate. His 4.87 FIP and 4.54 SIERA might be more accurate representations of how he has pitched this year.
The Yankees will be hoping that they get something more like his previous seasons. From 2022 to 2025, he tossed 227 1/3 innings between the Red Sox and Royals with a 3.33 ERA, 24.7% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 47.1% ground ball rate. This year’s velocity is in line with those campaigns, so perhaps the Yankees can figure out a way to get him back on track by altering his usage or pitch mix.
Turning to the financials, Schreiber is making $3.715MM this year, his final arbitration season before he is slated for free agency. There’s about $535K of that left to be paid out. The Royals will pocket those savings. The Yankees will take that on but will also have to pay taxes on it. The Yanks are a third-time payor over the top line of the competitive balance tax, so they face a 110% rate on anything they add. That means it will cost them $1.1MM in total to add Schreiber, hopefully upgrading the bullpen for September and October.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
