The New York Yankees have claimed pitcher Dom Hamel on waivers from the Texas Rangers, it was announced today. The Rangers had designated Hamel for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for newly signed reliever Jakob Junis.
If you aren’t familiar with Dom Hamel, that’s understandable. The Rangers claimed him on waivers from the Baltimore Orioles at the end of September. The Orioles had claimed him on waivers a week before that on waivers from the New York Mets. The Mets had drafted him in
the third round in 2021 out of Dallas Baptist, eight picks after the Rangers selected Cam Cauley, and 16 picks before the A’s picked Mason Miller, who I think everyone picking ahead of them in the third round wishes they had selected instead of whoever they picked.
The Yankees didn’t have an open 40 man roster spot, so to open up a spot for Hamel, they designated infielder Marco Luciano for assignment. Luciano spent several years early in his pro career as a consensus top 20 prospect with the San Francisco Giants, then a couple of years as a consensus top 50 guy, and is now out of options and bouncing around the waiver wire. The Pirates claimed him on waivers from the Giants in December, then the Orioles claimed him from the Pirates in early January, and then the Yankees claimed him from the Orioles earlier this month.
The Yankees are no doubt hoping to sneak Luciano through waivers so they can outright him, and likely will try to do the same thing with Hamel before too long.
