Yanks put in claim on their ex closer Robertson; trade seems unlikely
New York won the claim, but White Sox don't seem motivated to move him.
By
Jon Heyman
•
3 min read
Looking to enhance their already superb bullpen, the Yankees have put in on a claim on White Sox closer David Robertson, and will find out by Monday afternoon whether they have any chance at all to re-acquire their former reliever – though as of Sunday night it appeared unlikely he’s going anywhere.
While the Yankees have indeed won the claim, sources say, it’s now up to White Sox to decide if they would consider trading Robertson or -- less likely – even letting him go to the Yankees. At this point, though, there isn’t strong evidence to suggest the White Sox have any intention to let Robertson leave by any means.
This is a $38-million decision for the White Sox, which is the approximate amount remaining on Robertson’s contract; however, they are said to be very happy with their big investment in Robertson – he has a superb 0.92 WHIP – and have three years to go with him. There’s also little reason to believe they are motivated to move by that amount of money.
Officially, the White Sox have until 2 p.m. EDT to deal Robertson to the Yankees or keep him – though at least as of late Sunday night, there’d been no evidence of real trade talks between the teams.
The deadline for acquired players to be eligible for the postseason is Monday at midnight. So there will likely be some sort of trade activity Monday.
Robertson has a four-team no-trade list, but the Yankees are not included on that no-trade list, so he could not block a trade to the Yankees. 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.
The White Sox made no trades at the non-waiver deadline last month, but their position in the standings is somewhat weaker today, as they are now seven games behind for the second wild card spot with only a little more than a month to go. But even though Robertson may not be vital to the Southe Siders for 2015, they are said to like having him locked up through 2018.
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. The Yankees tried before the deadline to acquire star Padres closer Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman in trade; their more serious attempt was for Kimbrel, but San Diego declined the Yankees’ offer of top shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo and two other prospects.
Even if the White Sox decide to keep Robertson – which seems to be more likelier option—the claim was still worthwhile for the Yankees, as their claim blocked the Blue Jays and possibly Astros from having a shot at Robertson. The teams’ claiming order is based on records within their league, and the Yankees in recent days fell behind Toronto at the top of the AL East, giving them the first crack at Robertson. Going into the weekend, Houston also had a better record than New York, though that’s changed now.
Toronto has been extremely aggressive during this trading season, and while the Jays’ pen has performed much better lately, they are still relying on a 20-year-old closer, Roberto Osuna. The Jays and Astros were among the handful of pursuers of Robertson this winter, though at least the Jays never made an official offer.
Robertson has about $38 million to go through the 2018 season, including about $2 million this year.
He is 5-3 with 27 saves and a 2.70 ERA and that impressive 0.92 WHIP with the White Sox this year. He had 39 saves for the Yankees in 2014 when he was ably replacing the great Rivera as closer.
Robertson signed a $46-million, four-year deal with Chicago last winter, and the Yankees instead signed Miller for $36 million over four years. The Yankees also received an extra draft choice by letting go Robertson since they had extended him the $15.3-million qualifying offer, which he declined. The draft pick likely was a factor in their decision to go with Miller, who wasn’t extended a qualifying offer.
If the Yankees were to land Robertson – and it does appear to be a long shot at the moment -- it also would be interesting to see how manager Joe Girardi would deploy the three relief stars in one of the better bullpens of alltime.
