Yankees Make Quality Bullpen Move to Remedy a Poor Trade Deadline

The New York Yankees made the type of move they should have made at the deadline, so it's better late than never.

Former Kansas City Royals pitcher John Schreiber will be looking to help an overworked New York Yankees' bullpen for the stretch run. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

John Schreiber checks some important boxes. He's a veteran reliever with postseason experience and can easily eat up innings, taking some of the load off guys like Paul Blackburn or Brent Headrick. Schreiber is also a strong candidate to replace Fernando Cruz, and is the quality of pitcher the New York Yankees should have acquired at the trade deadline.

If the Yankees have anybody to thank for Schreiber being available, it's probably the Kansas City Royals, who were trying to save a buck and designated him for assignment. Getting rid of him was less about his talents and more about offloading the remainder of the $3,715,000 owed to him this year.

New York took advantage of the Royals' puzzling decision. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Brian Cashman reportedly claimed the veteran reliever off waivers ahead of the August 31st deadline, when players must be on the 40-man roster to be eligible for postseason play, too.

This season, Schreiber has posted a 3.65 ERA over 49.1 IP. He can probably be deployed as the first guy out of the bullpen when a starter is out of a game.

That's a better spot for a pitcher like him, as opposed to Headrick or Blackburn, who can just be used to come out of the pen during a clean inning. Those two have been overworked, and now the Yankees have more options to play with.

Some red flags for Schreiber

If there is one thing to worry about with Schreiber, it is that he has posted the lowest strikeout rate and highest walk rate of his career.

This season, Schreiber has a 17.7% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. That's down from last year when he had a 23.4% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. It's also way down from his years in Boston, when he had a 27.8% strikeout rate and a 9.5% walk rate in three seasons.

One thing about Schreiber is that, despite averaging 93.6 MPH on his fastball, he has had solid results from it. Opposing hitters are hitting .190 with a .379 slugging percentage. It has also generated a 34.4% strikeout rate.

It is probably his most effective pitch, whereas his sweeper, despite batters hitting .216, has a .514 slugging on that pitch. That's probably one reason for the dismal strikeout numbers compared to other years.

There might be some tweaks the Yankees can make with Schreiber, since they do seem to get the most out of relievers, but even if they can't, they still need to add someone like this to their bullpen. They couldn't keep bringing out the same guys night after night and overexposing them. It was a bullpen that desperately needed a few fresh faces.

Get Yankees On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.