LOS ANGELES -- The New York Yankees likely will not acquire Michael Young in a waiver deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, according to a source with knowledge of the conversations between the teams on Wednesday afternoon.
Young, 36, has a no-trade clause in his contract but agreed just before Wednesday's non-waiver deadline to approve a possible deal to the Yankees, which failed to materialize.
The source said that although it was communicated about an hour before the 4 p.m. ET deadline that Young had dropped his refusal to be traded to New York, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman ran into a brick wall when he spoke to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
According to the source, Cashman offered Amaro several names in exchange for Young; Amaro replied that the veteran third baseman is "my best bat, and I don't want to move him."
"They were never really close," the source told ESPNNewYork.com Thursday. "It almost seemed like [Young] really wasn't in play."
Cashman could not be reached for comment Thursday, but addressed the Yankees' inactivity at the deadline during a conference call Wednesday.
"It wasn't a deep market at all, number one," Cashman said. "Two, what I was offering obviously wasn't good enough for the opposing teams, and what the teams were offering me wasn't good enough from my perspective."
Young, a career .300 hitter who has averaged 16 home runs and 86 RBIs in 13 seasons, was sought by the Yankees to be their everyday third baseman, especially with a lengthy suspension looming for Alex Rodriguez, who has missed the entire season while rehabbing after offseason hip surgery.
In Rodriguez's absence, the Yankees have used seven players at third base, and they consider journeyman Jayson Nix as their regular starter.
Even after failing to land Young on Wednesday, the Yankees theoretically could make a deal for him via waivers. But that seems unrealistic at best.
"If the Phillies were telling the truth, then [Young] wasn't really available yesterday and I doubt he'll be available in August," the source said.