The New York Yankees claimed John Schreiber off waivers from the Kansas City Royals on Monday, adding a veteran right-hander to a bullpen that needed another arm. The move gives New York an eight-year major league reliever who can be used right away, and if the Yankees keep winning, he will be eligible for the postseason because the claim came before Sept. 1.
Schreiber, 32, had worked 55 games for Kansas City this season and posted a 3.65 ERA over 49 1/3 innings with 36 strikeouts. He finished 1-3 with one save and 14 holds, and opponents did not see the same pitcher from both sides of the plate: right-handed hitters were batting.143 against him, while left-handed hitters were at.326.
The claim landed at a moment when the Yankees were still patching together their relief group. They entered Monday at 78-59 in second place in the AL East, and they had not added a reliever at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Fernando Cruz went on the injured list last week with a partial tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament, and Tommy John surgery remains a possibility, so the club had reason to keep looking for help.
That is what makes Schreiber more than a waiver claim. Kansas City put him on waivers over the weekend, and New York moved quickly to grab a pitcher who has thrown at least 45 innings in each of the past five seasons and has not seen his ERA climb above 3.86 in that span. He is in the final year of team control and is scheduled to become a free agent this winter, while the Yankees will owe him the rest of his $3.715M salary.
What New York does with him next will tell the real story. The Yankees can use Schreiber in setup work or middle relief, but they do not need to force the choice immediately. They needed depth, they found a veteran who has been durable, and they added him at a time when every inning in the back of the bullpen matters.
