White Sox picking up Deivi Garcia after Erik Kratz's comments make Yankees look bad

When the New York Yankees sent Carlos Rodón to the injured list on Monday, they tried to pull a fast one by adding news of Deivi Garcia getting designated for assignment. The former top prospect had withered away on this team's 40-man roster for years and the Yankees finally decided the time had come. As always, they waited too long.

Fast forward three days, and the Bombers lost a series to the limping White Sox, whose vibes couldn't have been lower after a trade deadline cleanout, former players putting them on blast, and a brawl that left Tim Anderson dazed for over 24 hours.

That same team will be the new home for Garcia, as it was reported on Thursday the White Sox claimed the right-hander off waivers from the Yankees. Stay tuned for the details of the eventual trade.

Had Garcia gone unclaimed, nobody would've batted an eye. But the White Sox, who have one of the worst records in the league, claimed him, meaning there might have been demand because teams with the worse win-loss records get priority in the claiming process.

The White Sox are indeed bad, but you've been warned: watch for Garcia to somehow thrive in his new home.

White Sox picking up Deivi Garcia after Erik Kratz's comments make Yankees look bad

When's the last time the Yankees came out looking "good" after one of these situations? Or in any situation at all, really?

Shortly after Garcia's DFA, fans learned the Yankees had attempted to adjust the pitcher's mechanics after his successful 2020 season, for whatever reason. Garcia, already disadvantaged because of his size, had a quirky windup that worked for him. It created deception. It added some velocity to his pitches. For some players, that's the way to go. Not everybody needs to be thrown in a lab and put under a microscope.

But the Yankees thought they knew better. Narrator: "They didn't." After attempting whatever tweaks with Garcia's approach, the right-hander put forth three straight ghastly seasons with ERAs of 6.85, 6.89 and 5.67. The Yankees let this persist for nearly three years before pulling the plug -- and they got the worst of every angle here. Just ask former Yankee Erik Kratz, who caught Garcia's MLB debut and was close with the young pitcher during their days at the Alternate Site back in 2020.

Kratz mentioned the Yankees "did [Garcia] wrong" with the coaches they had guiding him through his first taste of the big leagues. Then he mentioned the other side of the coin: the Yankees refused to trade him because they believed in overwhelming upside. Not only did they fail to trade him and capitalize on his peaking value, they then cratered his value and career with poor coaching and development (sheesh, never heard that one before!). It's resulted in everybody losing.

It's another sunk cost from the Brian Cashman era that was expected to do great things. How much more can this all-too-common theme continue before Hal Steinbrenner wakes up from his stupor and decides to pay attention to anything baseball-related?