Yankees lose 3 fan favorites in Friday waiver claims

The New York Yankees needed anyone and everyone with a pulse in the minor league system to help them overcome an injury-filled spell in the middle of the season. One of the key members in helping New York stay respectable in the outfield was speedster Greg Allen.

After a couple of seasons in Cleveland, Allen bounced around in the minor leagues hoping to get back to the top level at some point. The Yankees called up Allen in July, and he proceeded to give them a surprising jolt of energy before they got healthy and his services were no longer needed.

While Allen likely isn’t going to be a high-level producer on the offensive end as an everyday player, he has value in modern baseball, and a Yankees team without a ton of speed could’ve easily used him as a bench piece. Unfortunately, the waiver system took him away from the boys in the Bronx.

Per FanSided’s own Robert Murray, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Allen off of waivers. Between acquiring Allen off of waivers and trading for Hoy Park, Pittsburgh seems to have a thing for developmental Yankees prospects and Scranton Wilkes-Barre stars.

Just minutes later, Murray also confirmed that the Red Sox snatched away Tim Locastro, who the Yankees acquired mid-season from Arizona. The Yankees’ depth in the outfield was decimated on Friday afternoon.

A few minutes later, Andrew Velazquez was claimed by the Angels. His storybook ride with New York has come to an end.

Yankees backups Greg Allen and Tim Locastro were claimed on waivers.

Allen’s .270 average might look pretty ordinary, but he did record at least one hit in 10 of the 15 games in which he played. With five stolen bases proving how deadly he can be on the basepaths and some solid outfield defense to boot, Allen certainly belongs on a 25-man roster, even if the Yankees don’t believe that he can make the grade for their squad.

We still haven’t forgotten that the Yankees leaned on Jonathan Davis over him late in the season, however.

Locastro is one of the fastest men in baseball, if not the outright fastest, but he’s a poor offensive player and is coming off of a major leg injury. The worst part about this move is that he went to Boston, meaning he will assuredly come back to kill the Yankees at some point in 2022.

Velazquez is a plus defender who originates from the Bronx, and while that made for a heartwarming story, there was no chance he was going to be a starter in 2022.

While Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Joey Gallo made up the outfield for the bulk of their late-season charge to the postseason, the impending return of Aaron Hicks from injury might’ve led to a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation.

Allen, Velazquez, and Locastro did their best to fill in while some of the big boppers were incapacitated, but they didn’t do enough to earn spots on the 2022 squad.

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