With the Yankees shuffling players out of the 40-man roster over the past few weeks, they’ve placed a waiver claim on recently DFA’d infielder Jordan Groshans. The 24-year-old infielder spent the last year and a half in the Miami Marlins organization after being traded by the Toronto Blue Jays, seeing his stock as a prospect plummet in recent years due to injuries and regression. An experienced defender at both shortstop and third base, he’s had to shift over to the hot corner, and hasn’t seen the bat progress the way the Blue Jays hoped it would when they used a first-round pick on him.
He’s certainly a talented player, as mentioned earlier he was selected in the first round as the 12th overall pick in 2018, but he’ll likely serve as infield depth or a potential DFA candidate if the Yankees make any additions to their 40-man roster.
Former First-Round Pick Claimed Off Waivers by Yankees
Jordan Groshans struggled mightily at the plate this past season at both Triple-A and the Major Leagues, and the Marlins designated him for assignment last week as they’ve made some roster changes as well. He slashed just .243/.339/.330 with a 74 wRC+ and six home runs across 125 games, and his lack of a speed tool or unbelievable defense has made him an easy choice to place on waivers for Miami. When he was called up the bat didn’t get much better, posting a 77 wRC+ and -0.1 fWAR across 17 games.
Defensively he’s slotted at third base with the mounting lower-body injuries, but the transition hasn’t resulted in improved offense or power. Groshans hasn’t found it with his power tool at the professional level, and entering his age-24 season, he’ll have to make massive strides to remain on a team’s 40-man roster. It’s unclear whether this will be an addition that lasts through Spring Training as the Yankees have claimed and DFA’d a variety of players over the last few months.
These transactions are free to make for the Yankees so they’ll shuffle players around as they find ones on the waiver wire that intrigue them more, but they’d have their work cut out for them with trying to improve Jordan Groshans. He does have a good feel for contact, striking out in just 17.4% of plate appearances last season in Triple-A, and it’s possible that with the right organization, he could find something that clicks for him and causes him to take that next step forward.
Matt Krook was the roster casualty of this transaction, and the left-hander looked poised for a potential breakout last season before getting crushed in his short MLB stint. He was excellent in Triple-A, tossing 34 innings with a 1.32 ERA and 39% strikeout rate, but his walk issues reared their ugly head in the Bronx and he posted a 24.75 ERA in his debut year. There’s still some upside here, but a concerning injury history and lack of velocity have caused him to fall out of favor with the organization.
He could stick around if he passes through waivers, but there’s enough talent and intrigue in his profile to believe that a team would place a waiver claim on him.