Scott Effross must've been confused by Yankees' latest roster shuffle, DFA blindside

On Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees used one of their forthcoming DFA bullets in unexpected fashion.

Ahead of the series finale and rubber game against the Colorado Rockies, and in need of some bullpen innings after starter Will Warren was only able to last three innings on Old-Timers' Day, the Yankees opted to add a right-handed arm for inning-soaking purposes.

Nope, not Scott Effross, who went scoreless at Triple-A in the month of August prior to Saturday. Not Ron Marinaccio, currently on the 40-man roster and readily available.

Instead, they signed Phil Bickford to a major-league contract, DFAing Michael Tonkin in the process. What's a guy got to do to get the nod over Bickford?

Yankees reliever Michael Tonkin DFA'd in favor of Phil Bickford

In the process, the Yankees may have relieved themselves of a difficult future decision, but not by finding an alternate solution. They simply decided to peel the bandage off now, quickly, to minimize the pain.

Tonkin, once a bullpen savior during the Yankees' spiral in June and July, holds a 6.00 ERA in his past 15 appearances, totaling 24 innings. Once upon a time, he was the team's second in line to close behind Clay Holmes, and gutted out tightrope appearances against the Phillies following the trade deadline and Royals in early June, prior to the team-wide slump. Unfortunately, he'd worked himself back into DFA territory in recent weeks, and many expected him to eventually be gone in favor of Effross, Ian Hamilton, Clarke Schmidt or Luis Gil.

Instead, it'll be Bickford for now, who last threw two innings on Aug. 21, allowing one earned run in St. Paul. That means he's rested and eligible to cover gaps -- unlike Effross, who Yankees management can't be happy tossed an inning in Saturday's game.

Odds are Bickford only lasts a day or two at the big-league level, but he still cost the team valuable depth down the stretch in Tonkin -- though that was bound to happen anyway. Only the circumstances were surprising.