Yankees: 40-Man Roster Crunch Makes Them Explosive At The Deadline

Relying on the research done by James Vlietstra in a compelling story he wrote for Pinstriped Prospects; the Yankees face the prospect of losing Clint Frazier, Dustin Fowler, Tyler Wade, Ian Clarkin, and Billy McKinney to the draft since they are currently not included in the team’s 40-man roster.

Once a player is elevated to the 40-man roster, his status cannot change without the team exposing him on the waiver wire, risking the chance he will be claimed and therefore to another team with nothing coming back to the team. He’s simply gone.

So if for example, the Yankees decide to protect one or more of the above players by moving them to the 40-man roster, that will mean a subtraction from the current roster. In turn, this will lead to a downward spiral of roster changes for all teams in their farm system as one player moves up and another moves down until you reach the lower Class-A levels.

But that’s not the whole problem facing the Yankees. Because when you look closely at the composition of their current 40-man roster, who would you subtract if, for instance, you decided to protect only Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade?

To re-emphasize, this is not a problem the Yankees are used to having. And it’s likely that Brian Cashman will be relying heavily on his managers, coaches, and scouts who are watching these players on an everyday basis.