Having put in a claim over the weekend, the Yankees had hoped to work out a trade for closer David Robertson.
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Non the less, the Yankees have officially been awarded the claim, which means that it’s now up to the White Sox to decide if they even want to trade David Robertson back to the Yankees, who they essentially snagged away from the Bronx last offseason with a four-year/ $46 million dollar deal and a compensation draft pick.
Adding Robertson, 30, to the Yankees’ bullpen would make it among the best in the game, if not all time.
The Yankees have been interested at least since July in a lockdown bullpen, with an eye on another big-time reliever to join their tandem of bullpen stars – closer Andrew Miller and set-up man Dellin Betances. That’s no surprise, as he grew up with the Yankees and loved being a Yankee in New York, where he won a ring in 2009 and is fondly recalled as the one who seamlessly replaced the legendary Mariano Rivera as the team’s closer. His success has followed him to the South Side of Chicago.
Robertson is 5-3 with a 2.70 ERA and 27 saves in 2015.
Heyman had said in an earlier report that the odds of the White Sox trading Robertson were long, because they were still high on him and didn’t feel over-burdened by the remaining money and years on his contract. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that part of the reason the club made a claim on Robertson was to prevent the Toronto Blue Jays from potentially acquiring Robertson.
By most accounts, the Yankees have been trying to improve their pitching staff any way they can over the past couple months.
However, the veteran right-hander was pulled back by the Chicago White Sox and Monday’s 2 p.m. waiver deadline came and went without a deal, CBSSports.com/WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman reported.
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The clock is ticking on the Yanks’ attempts to complete a deal for Robertson or any other pitcher, so stay tuned to see if anything materializes before today’s waiver deadline.
