The Yankees have designated 25-year old righty pitcher Anthony Claggett for assignment. Claggett pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Yankees this season and he is 0-0 with a 33.75 ERA and a 5.62 WHIP. Claggett has allowed a stunning 11 hits, 2 homers and he has walked 4 batters in only 2 2/3 innings. This guy is simply not a major league pitcher and the Yankees should release him if he clears waivers.

UPDATE: The Pirates have claimed Claggett off waivers.

If the Yankees are going to baby 23-year old righty starting pitcher Joba Chamberlain then they should just return him to the bullpen where he pitched much, much better. Chamberlain has started 25 games this season for the Yanks and he is 8-4 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Chamberlain has been very hittable as a starting pitcher as he has allowed 136 hits in 133 2/3 innings this season while walking 65 batters and that’s way too many. His strikeouts are also way down as he has 115 this season (7.7 per 9 innings). Coming into this season Chamberlain pitched in 61 games (12 starts) for the Yankees and he was 6-3 with 1 save, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He only allowed 99 hits in 124 1/3 innings while whiffing 152 batters (11.0 per 9 innings). Chamberlain is better as a reliever and that’s not hard to see. The Yanks have more than enough cash to buy a starting rotation and end the game with Hughes, Chamberlain and Rivera and that’s what they should do next season.

The Yankees are a little reluctant to remove Alfredo Aceves or Phillip Hughes from the bullpen right now as that’s where they are needed the most. But, the #5 spot in the starting rotation is beginning to be a huge problem for the Yankees. Chien Ming-Wang is out for the season and that might be a good thing based on how he pitched this season. Wang pitched in 12 games (9 starts) for the Yankees this season and he was 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA and a 2.02 WHIP. He allowed a stunning 66 hits in only 42 innings before being shut down for the season. Righty Sergio Mitre is the current #3 starter for the Yanks and he has also been awful. He has started 3 games for the Yankees and he is 1-0 with a 7.90 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP. The Yankees will likely be hunting for a veteran starting pitcher in August if they can somehow get one to slide through waivers. That’s because the AAA team has a lot more pitchers like Mitre (failed veterans).

29-year old righty starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang is off to the worst start of the season for a starting pitcher in recent memory. He has started 3 games this season for the Yankees and he is 0-3 with a 34.50 ERA and a 4.83 WHIP. Wang has allowed a stunning 23 hits and has walked 6 batters in only 6 innings this season! It’s likely that the Yankees will make up some injury to put Wang on the D.L. if he doesn’t improve soon. Of course, they could call it whiplash! 22-year old righty Phil Hughes and 24-year old righty Ian Kennedy are both off to great starts in the minors and one of them might get a chance to replace Wang in the near future. Hughes has started 2 games in AAA-ball and he is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He is the more likely of the two pitchers to be recalled because of Kennedy’s struggles with the Yanks last season. Kennedy has started 2 games in AAA-ball also and he is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. The Yankees can’t afford to show much more patience with Wang if he doesn’t start pitching better soon.

The Yankees demoted 24-year old righty reliever Anthony Claggett after he got destroyed by the Cleveland Indians in his major league debut over the weekend. He pitched 1 2/3 innings in that game and he allowed 9 hits (2 homers), 8 earned runs and he walked 2 batters. The Yankees have recalled their #29 rated prospect according to Baseball America in 26-year old righty Steven Jackson. Jackson has pitched in 4 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he is 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. In his previous five minor league seasons Jackson pitched in 145 games (66 starts) in which he was 27-29 with 7 saves, a 4.31 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Don’t expect miracles out of Jackson.