Yankees' roster move involving struggling top prospect puts ALDS plans into focus

Even though the New York Yankees very clearly do not care about the top seed in the American League, their magic number to clinch that luxury dropped to one on Friday night despite their loss. The Cleveland Guardians also lost to the Houston Astros to keep the door open.

And it seems the Yankees still might be playing with fire despite going up against Paul Skenes on Saturday after already getting beat by Jared Jones.

On Saturday morning it was revealed Will Warren was in the Yankees' clubhouse, but no corresponding move was made. When Warren was asked about his arrival, he said he didn't know who it was for and he didn't know what his role was going to be.

Moments later, the Yankees made an announcement. Warren had been recalled from Triple-A and Cody Poteet was optioned. Huh?

Wasn't Poteet supposed to potentially provide depth for the postseason roster? Or at least get a chance to prove he can do so?

Arrival of struggling Yankees top prospect creates roster questions ahead of October

This all but officially confirms the Yankees will be carrying Clay Holmes and Marcus Stroman for the ALDS. Though fans had held out hope Holmes would be left off, the injury to Nestor Cortes, Jake Cousins and Lou Trivino have essentially cleared the path.

Likewise, Cortes' injury made Stroman's inclusion less controversial, but perhaps some competition over the final weekend with Poteet in the mix would've at least made things interesting. Stroman got absolutely shelled when he stepped in for Cortes on Wednesday night and it didn't have anybody feeling positive about the team's depth.

Poteet getting optioned makes him ineligible for the ALDS, so that's that.

Though one could say Warren is a "fresh longman," one could also argue that he's a throw-in during a losing effort or a blowout win. And we're not sure what value that holds with two days left in the season, again, with Poteet available to do the exact same thing while potentially showing you he's capable of pitching in the ALCS should the Yankees need more length. The Yankees won't play again until next Saturday when play concludes Sunday, so it's not like rest was an issue for anybody.

Looks like the Yankees are going to avoid as many controversial decisions as they possibly can. No surprise there.