The Yankees announced that they have claimed outfielder off waivers from the Dodgers, the latter club having designated him for a signment earlier this week. To open a roster spot for Trammell, the Yankees designated infielder for a signment. Trammell, 26, was only with the Dodgers for a couple of weeks. They claimed him off waivers from the Mariners in early April and he only got six hitle s plate appearances, striking out three times, before getting bumped off the roster and put right back on waivers. The Yankees are likely interested based on Trammells past status as one of the top prospects in the game. Selected 35th overall by the Reds in 2016, he was on Baseball Americas top 100 lists in three straight years starting in 2018. But his results started to dip as he began to be pa sed around the league a bit. He was flipped to the Padres in the 2019 that sent to the Reds and to Cleveland, then was traded again, going to the Mariners in the 2020 that also sent and to Seattle. The Mariners gave him sporadic playing time in the majors over the past few years but he didnt live up to his previous prospect hype. He currently has a line of .165/.266/. LeBron James Jersey 361 in 357 plate appearances, having struck out in 37.3% of those. His 10.9% walk rate is strong but the overall output has obviously not been good. He is now out of options, which is why the Mariners and Dodgers have each had to designate him for a signment in recent weeks. Reasons for optimism can be found on Trammells Triple-A performance. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has 812 plate appearances at the top minor league level. He struck out in 24% of those but also drew walks at a 14% rate and hit 38 home runs. Thats to be taken with a grain of salt since those homers were all in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but his .274/.381/.506 batting line nonethele s translated to a 116 wRC+, indicating he was 16% above league average. He also stole 33 bases in 40 tries in that time. The Yanks will give Trammell a roster spot to see if he can finally have his long-awaited breakout in pinstripes. While thats a sensible decision in a vacuum, it seems le s than ideal in terms of roster construction. The Yankees already have a pretty loaded group in terms of outfielders, with , and getting the regular playing time. is in the designated hitter slot most days while is on hand as a glove-first backup. Smith was added to the roster on the weekend with the clubs infield injuries mounting. and both started the season on the injured list, which prompted the Yanks to trade for . But then Berti himself landed on the IL a few days ago, which is what led the club to select Smiths contract. Swapping in Trammell for Smith will seemingly give the club a surplus of outfielders but leave them a bit shorthanded on the dirt. has taken over as the regular third baseman amid all those injuries, taking a spot next to , and . The Yankees have on hand as a depth infielder but hes been given just one plate appearance so far this year and only has major league experience at second base and in left field. LeMahieu is starting a rehab a signment this week but a bench of catcher , Jones, Grisham and Trammell will leave the club a bit thin on the infield until LeMahieu is ready to rejoin the big league club. Someone will have to lose their roster spot when LeMahieu gets back and time will tell who that is. If Trammell hangs onto his spot, he can be retained well into the future. He has le s than two years of service time, meaning he has four years of club control beyond the current campaign. As for Smith, the Yankees will now have a week to trade him or pa s him through waivers. He got into one game as a pinch runner during his time on the roster but didnt get sent to the plate. He has hit .173/.215/.301 in his 333 career plate appearances at the major league level. He seemed to have a Triple-A breakout in 2021 when he hit .285/.370/.561 for the top minor league affiliate of the Blue Jays. But since then, his Triple-A performance has been an average-ish .280/.340/.497, which translates to a 101 wRC+. He also struck out in 29.9% of his plate appearances in that time. Like Trammell, hes out of options but comes with years of potential club control. If he were to pa s through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Yankees as depth but without occupying a roster spot. Dylan Windler Jersey