Yankees Have a Number of August Waiver Trade Candidates

Even after completing a number of high profile trades before the August 1st trade deadline, the New York Yankees front office may not be finished.

The non-waiver trade deadline may have passed, but the Yankees still have plenty of players on hefty contracts sure to clear waivers over the next month. Let the fire-sale continue!

For those not familiar with the process, trades can still occur after August 1st. Players must first be placed on trade waivers. If no other team claims them, they can be traded to any club, just like prior to the deadline.

If someone does put in a claim, the Yankees can either choose to just hand the player over, work out a trade, or pull the player back.

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Most teams wouldn’t want to risk getting stuck paying a guy like Alex Rodriguez or CC Sabathia next season, so overpaid veterans almost always slip through.

The Yankees have a lot of guys right on the cusp of overpaid who might be of interest to contenders this month, however. Let’s take a look at a few August trade candidates:

1. Brian McCann– Two years $34 million after 2016

Trade talks with Atlanta continued right up until Monday’s deadline. With the Yankees window now looking like 2018-2019 when McCann will be well into his decline , the team might as well clear his salary now.

2. Mark Teixeira– Free agent after 2016

Anyone willing to take on a pro-rated portion of his $23.125 million contract is welcome to have him at this point. The Yankees need to see what they have in the red-hot Tyler Austin before next season.

3. Jacoby Ellsbury– Four years $90.6 million after 2016 (including $5 million buyout for 2021)

He still resembles something close to an average starting centerfielder for the time being. The Yankees would need to eat something like $50 million to get this done though, so probably not happening.

4. Brett Gardner– Two years $26 million after 2016 (Including $2 million buyout for 2019)

The contract is not unreasonable, but the Yankees have so many talented (and cheap) outfielders in the system that it wouldn’t be crazy to let any team that claims him just have him. If they want to throw in a prospect, even better.

5. Starlin Castro– Three years $33.58 million after 2016 (Including $1 million buyout for 2020

Castro has been a very expensive roughly-replacement-level player three of the past four years. He’s been below average offensively and defensively in pinstripes, and the Yankees have a much cheaper alternative in Rob Refsnyder. If the team finds a taker, they should just dump him. They already got Adam Warren back from the Cubs, so just call the trade a mulligan.

We can safely say A-Rod and CC aren’t going anywhere given their contracts and status on the team. The Yankees would probably be more likely to cut them at this point.

Chase Headley would be another option, but the Yankees have literally no one ready in the system to play third base everyday. Ronald Torreyes can’t hit and Refsnyder can’t field the position. Miguel Andjuar is having a nice year, but he’s nowhere close to big league ready.

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Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi were both rumored trade candidates leading up to the deadline, but ownership ultimately wanted to hang onto them for 2017, their final year before free agency. Both will undoubtedly get claimed, but if it’s by the right club, the Yankees may be able to work out a deal.