Wakefield's problems continued in New York, where he had only two at-bats for the 1950 Yankees. At the end of April 1950, the Yankees traded Wakefield to the Chicago White Sox, but Wakefield refused to report unless a $5,500 salary cut imposed by the Yankees was reversed. Commissioner Happy Chandler voided the trade in mid-May, and the Yankees put Wakefield on suspension. Wakefield asked to buy out his own contract, but the Yankees refused and instead sold his contract to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League.