The Marlins have claimed Preston Claiborne off waivers from the Yankees, according to Joe Frisaro. New York designated the right-handed reliever for assignment late last week to clear a 40-man roster spot for fellow righty reliever Gonzalez Germen, who was acquired from the Mets in a cash trade.
Claiborne, 27, had a 3.79 ERA (4.00 FIP) with decent strikeout (7.32 K/9 and 18.7 K%), walk (3.03 BB/9 and 7.7 BB%), homer (1.01 HR/9 and 9.2 HR/FB%), and ground ball (43.3%) rates in 71.1 innings spread across 62 relief appearances these last two years. He had a 0.46 ERA (2.39 FIP) in his first 19.2 MLB innings and a 5.05 ERA (4.61 FIP) in 51.2 innings thereafter.
The Yankees drafted Claiborne in the 17th round of the 2010 draft and got some nice mileage out of him. (The expected return for a 17th rounder is basically nothing.) Thanks to Germen, Jacob Lindgren, Bryan Mitchell, Danny Burawa, Branden Pinder, Chase Whitley, and several others, the Yankees have no shortage of up-and-down bullpen candidates for next season. Claiborne had a nice little run last year but that’s about it.