Yankees claim ex-Mets reliever, deny former top 100 prospect an MLB roster chance

The bottom of the 40-man roster ... man, all it does is churn. This is not a Yankees-exclusive problem. What it is is an annoying reality that forces you to quickly say goodbye in one of the rare instances where New York has hooked a piece of intriguing roster fodder.

Such is the case again on Tuesday with the arrival of Dom Hamel, who pitched one inning for the Mets last season, and was most recently attached to the Rangers.

Less than 24 hours after the Cody Bellinger signing became official without a corresponding move - spooky! - the Yankees claimed Hamel and let lefty Jayvien Sandridge loose in the process.

In exchange for Bellinger's arrival, they also sent Marco Luciano back onto the waiver wire. To which we say: NO! That was the ONE interesting guy!

Yankees claim reliever Dom Hamel, lose Jayvien Sandridge and five-time Top 100 prospect Marco Luciano

The Yankees will now attempt to pass Luciano through waivers down to Triple-A, a feat every MLB team that has tried it so far has failed to accomplish this offseason. It doesn't work for anyone ... but it might work for us.

Losing Luciano (likely) won't be a death sentence for the Yankees. Their season doesn't hinge on being able to figure out if the formerly hyped 24-year-old can finally match the moment, or whether his small-sample Triple-A performance against lefties in the Pacific Coast League can translate to an MLB bench.

Still, someone who ranked in the top 60 of all prospects on five consecutive Baseball America lists from 2020-2024, peaking at No. 12, has obvious skill. There's really no good reason to hold onto barely-playable infielder Braden Shewmake over Luciano, who could've at least been an experiment to keep an eye on this spring.

That honor will now go to Hamel, as the Yankees smartly didn't sacrifice a member of the Triple-A Scranton Shuttle (Sandridge) without replacing him. Hamel had a 6.79 ERA at Syracuse in 2024 as a member of the starting rotation, toeing the rubber 27 times/pitching 124 2/3 innings. He had a 5.39 ERA last year in 31 appearances, 11 of them coming out of the bullpen. I am not excited to see him. Maybe I'll get there.

For now, the Yankees have let their only two viable waiver claims this offseason - Kaleb Ort and Luciano - fall off the tree. Seems both bad and boring.