The Yankees are currently on the market to add an extra arm to their depleted rotation. Unfortunately, they may have to look past Ted Lilly.
New York is looking to add pitching help as their rotation is currently missing Javier Vazquez and Andy Pettitte and features the struggling duo of A.J. Burnett and Dustin Moseley. After the Dodgers placed Lilly on waivers last week, the Yankees' decided to snag the starter for postseason help.
However, the Dodgers disallowed the claim and pulled Lilly off the waiver wire on Tuesday to prevent the left-hander from heading to the Bronx. It seemed the Dodgers never had any intention of trading Lilly, so pulling him off waivers did not come as a surprise to the baseball world.
What is a surprise, however, is the Yankees continued pursuit of Lilly despite the Dodgers pulling him off waivers. According to the New York Daily News, the Yankees are pushing for a deal with the Dodgers for Lilly, and believe to have found a loophole in the system. New York believes since they were awarded the claim for Lilly before the first of the month, they should be allowed to use Lilly on their postseason roster.
There are several that refute this claim, and cannot find the loophole the Yankees are referring to. However, if the Dodgers run into financial trouble and need to put Lilly on waivers again, they cannot pull him back.
Since he was traded to the Dodgers on July 31, Lilly is 5-1 with a 3.29 ERA.
