New York Yankees open the door to call up Clarke Schmidt
James Paxton’s trip to the Injured List could have a silver lining for the Yankees. It gives the team a perfect opportunity to promote Clarke Schmidt.
Every top prospect needs a little bit of luck to earn their call up to the Major Leagues. Clarke Schmidt might finally be getting the breaks required to debut for the Yankees.
The reality that James Paxton is almost certainly headed to the Injured List with a strained flexor is the first domino Schmidt needed to fall. The Yankees don’t want to call him up unless he’s got a chance to join the starting rotation. It’s obvious that GM Brian Cashman doesn’t want to make Schmidt a reliever at this stage of his career.
That alone likely wasn’t going to be enough to earn Schmidt a ticket to the Bronx. The reality that he’s still not on the organization’s 40-man roster remains the biggest obstacle standing in the way of him making his major league debut. That’s why the team’s decision to trade David Hale to the Phillies is huge for Schmidt’s immediate future.
Jettisoning Hale for minor league reliever Addison Russ opens up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster for Schmidt. The Yankees could elect to leave the spot open in case they plan to acquire another major leaguer via trade before the end of the month. They also could finally promote Schmidt to the 40-man which would serve as a clear precursor to promoting him to the active roster.
The fact that New York isn’t set to play again until Tuesday gives the organization plenty of time to review all of their options carefully. Cashman is an executive who is always working behind the scenes to see if an impact player might be available for the right price. That means the Yankees won’t be in any rush to promote Schmidt until they’ve exhausted a number of potential trade options.
The odds still favor Schmidt getting his chance. The Yankees believe he’s capable of being a quality major league starter already. Testing him in the majors this season would give the organization a much better idea of whether or not he’ll be ready to step into the starting rotation on a full-time basis in 2021. His ability to make that leap could be important since both Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka are slated to hit free agency.
Next. Gleyber Torres could push D.J. LeMahieu out of the Bronx. dark
The bottom line is that Schmidt’s wait to make his Major League debut is likely going to end very soon. It’s time for the Yankees to see what their top pitching prospect can do.