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Yankees Claim Eli Whiteside Off Waivers From San Francisco Giants

One poor-hitting catcher from the Giants was not enough to satisfy them. The Yankees had to double-down on it.

Christian Petersen

Move over, Chris Stewart, there's someone who may even be worse than you at hitting vying for a catching spot on the Yankees now. Eli Whiteside was claimed off waivers from San Francisco by the Yankees after only playing in twelve games this season. He's 33 years old with a career batting line of .215/.273/.335 in various portions of five MLB seasons.

Whiteside is arbitration eligible with a projected salary of $600,000 for 2013, according to MLB Trade Rumors. I see little chance of Russell Martin not being the starting catcher again next season, but if another team is willing to offer him a long deal that beats out the Yankees, the team could find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Austin Romine is almost certainly not ready for the majors after missing nearly the entire 2012 season to a back injury. Neither Francisco Cervelli or Chris Stewart should be seen as a starter for this team, either. The market is thin unless you believe in a bounce back season from Mike Napoli that won't come cheap.

This is likely just a move for depth, but it's an extremely unexciting one either way.