The Yankees are casting a wide net in their search for relief pitching, including some of the names in the top tier of the free agent bullpen market. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi writes (X link) that Carlos Estevez is one of the relievers the Yankees are looking at, on the heels of Estevez’s 26-save season with the Angels and Phillies.
Estevez collected his share of saves as a high-leverage member of the Rockies’ bullpen from 2016-22, but he didn’t become a full-time closer until 2023, after he’d signed a two-year, $13.5MM contract with the Angels in his previous trip to the open market. Estevez racked up 31 saves in his first season in Los Angeles while posting a 3.90 ERA over 62 1/3 innings, and followed that up with a 2.38 ERA over 34 frames this year before the Angels sent him to Philadelphia at the trade deadline. The bottom-line result of a 2.57 ERA over 21 innings with the Phils was still impressive, though Estevez had diminished strikeout and walk rates following the trade.
All in all, the right-hander delivered a 2.45 ERA across 55 innings, with an excellent 5.7% walk rate. The Statcast metrics revealed a few more red flags than red data points, as Estevez’s strikeout rate was barely above league average, and his barrel and hard-hit ball rates were both quite poor. A .229 BABIP might be the key stat of Estevez’s season, and while his 3.57 SIERA was still respectable, the number is over a run higher than his actual ERA.
Then again, perhaps Estevez was due a bit of balance considering that he entered the season with a career .320 BABIP. The righty’s career strikeout numbers have tended to fluctuate since Estevez isn’t good at getting batters to chase outside the zone, yet he still possesses plenty of velocity in his 96.8mph fastball. Estevez has relied heavily on that pitch over his career, though his slider and changeup were also plus pitches in 2024.
MLBTR ranked Estevez 22nd on our list of the winter’s top 50 free agents, projecting a three-year, $27MM deal for the reliever as he enters his age-32 season. Naturally Estevez figures to get plenty of attention from teams that need a proper closer, yet the Yankees technically have that position addressed after Luke Weaver’s late-season emergence. It makes sense that New York would seek out a more proven closer in case Weaver comes back to earth, or perhaps if the Yankees want to use Weaver in more of a situation role than strictly as a ninth-inning specialist.
If he can get get 3/27, there might be a chance SD can trade Suarez and his 3/26 left on his deal. Clear some salary.
Why??? He’s their closer and their hardest thrower???
Even if they resign tanner Scott they won’t trade Suarez
Don’t need him. Less expensive options already on the roster. Adam and Estrada are better. Exchange his contract for an outfielder or SS or Catcher. Something they don’t have.
What is kind of sad is that I think you believe the garbage you post. That you are not just a bad troll, but a sincerely uninformed person who thinks that they know baseball. If you are trying to troll, it’s even worse because you are so, so terrible at it.
So signing guy for $27M a guy for $26M clears salary?
Padres don’t sign this guy. They don’t need him nor Suarez. They trade Suarez for a SS, C or OF. If someone will pay 3/27 for Estevez, 3/26 which is what is left on Suarez contract makes him tradable. Padres have depth in the pen. So trade from depth to get what you need. And $9M per could get you a position player that can contribute in a meaningful way.
Opponents had a .598 OPS off Robert Saurez in 2024. That’s a slash line of .217/.265/.333 off him.
I think you might be the same poster that was ragging on him in recent days/weeks like he was some big disappointment to the team which obviously was not the case. If I am thinking of someone else, my apologies in advance.
Here’s hoping he has another great season in 2025. I hardly think they can afford to move him and let Scott walk at the same time. Not to mention 9m doesn’t pay for much of an every day guy.
Suarez is OK and tradable. But Estrada and Adam had better K/9, better WHIP, better FIP, and better ERA. They can take on closer role. Suarez can be used along with Arraez to fill priority holes in the roster.
Of course Saurez is tradeable, he is a damn good closer making 10m in 2025.
When the Padres traded for Arraez they were 17-18 and spinning their wheels. After the trade with Arraez being inserted in the leadoff spot they put up a .598 winning % the rest of the way (a 97 win pace).
Arraez didn’t have his best year despite winning his 3rd consecutive batting title, but it was apparent his addition flipped a switch for the team. After the 2023 blunder it was refreshing how quickly they did a 180. Their offense going from one that stunk with RISP, in extra innings and 1 run games to a team that struck out the least amount in MLB, while being resealent even when down and clutch in general.
Arraez, Profar, Merrill and Schildt were the key pieces that all deserve credit for the change for the better, but I don’t think it’s a given that trading Arraez for other pieces makes the 2025 team better.
Look, they are at the CBT line right now and it sounds like they don’t want to exceed it or if they do by very little. And they still need to replace Profar, Kim, Higashioka, and fill in for Musgrove. They can’t tap their farm system. It was raided of any 2025 contributors last season. So they will need to use where they have depth to fill the holes. They have a deep pen and Suarez has the largest hit to CBT. A singles hitting DH who is slated to make almost as much as Marcel Ozuna is a luxury. So it makes the most sense to trade for those positions they need filled with these two. To sign FAs to fill those open spots would cost about $30M easily. That is not going to happen. They might go over $10M. Maybe. Believe me those two, and others are in trade talks and will not be a surprise if moved before Christmas.
The Padres are (probably) going to increase their payroll this year now that they have financial certainty
I think the padres can say resign profar and higgy and then sign gleyber Torres with either him or Xander moving back to short
If they can’t resign profar then Harrison bader is a good option or Amed Rosario for Kim or Gary sanchez for higgy
Can you see or do I need to explain more
“The Yankees are casting a wide net in their search for relief pitching”
Boy, they aren’t kidding!
Wild Thing hasn’t pitch in quite a few years.
Not going by “Charlie” anymore?
too much tiger blood.
speaking of Sheen, Jeselnik’s roast joke that Charlie was only successful because God hates Michael J Fox was an amazing.
No! He’s a good reliever but he’s not a swing and miss guy. They desperately need a swing and miss back-end BP guy, ie, Tanner Scott, Ryan Healsley, Williams, etc.
Yankees current FO never learns by their mistakes.
You know the old saying. If you do the same thing over and over and expect different results, you’re a genius, or something like that.
Can the Yankees please start to get younger and do a better job at drafting and developing some pitching of their own. If the Yankees wanted a closer Hader was available last year. The free agent class is very weak.
I hope the Yankees avoid the expensive relievers entirely. There’s no reason to spend big on the bullpen when they have a lot of internal options plus Matt Blake
Williams would be perfect for them as their closer
(Assuming they resign Soto) either trade a prospect not named Spencer jones or the Martian for a year of Williams or trade one of those 2 for helsey
They can’t have 4 outfielders unless there’s a position change
@sad Jones isn’t ready. He’ll start the year at AA or AAA depending on how S.T. works out for him. The team needs a fourth OFer.
@yankee clipper. He’s actually good his first year he had a bad second half because of the infield. I forgot who they trotted out, but it was worse than this year’s bunch. That was before moustakas that looked like a gold glove.
Rengifo and Drury platooned since the infield was a merry-go-around of quad-A players and guys on and off the IL express. Drury had to cover 1st, Rengifo had to cover short before Neto got settled. Drury is a known quantity but Rengifo could play in any position and be terrible at it, but both of them were good after the ASG so both ended up playing, and neither was good on the field. Pretty much the same this year except Drury forgot how to hit.
He has always been an above average SO reliever. This year he was 25.8% with the Angels and MLB average is 22.4%. Last year he struck out 27.8% and MLB average was about the same. His problem has never been that he didn’t strike out enough guys, it’s that he walked too many. He improved on that tremendously this year.
Blake and company did a great job piecing together the pen this year. The other extreme was Britton and Chapman a few years ago costing 30 million.. I think they go somewhere in between this winter..A lot depends on the price since most late inning free agents are over paid.
Guy averages a K% around 23%. That isn’t what they need.
23.6% this year after 27.8% last year which are both better than MLB average. What do they need?
First, if a guy’s K% drops that significant, there is some underlying issues to resolve. Second, 23% is pretty pedestrian. Guy’s cooked and all the signs point to that. If the Yankees sign him, they should be questioning their analytical department.
Estevez has gone up and down year to year like the vast majority of relievers. Here are the 2 of the best closers in baseball this season.
baseball-reference.com/players/h/helslry01.shtml
baseball-reference.com/players/c/claseem01.shtml
He had a 25.8% with the Angels this season and cut his walks in half while here. 23.6% is more than 2% better than league average. Being better than average is good. You have to wonder what changes the Phillies asked him to make in the last 2 months of the season. Maybe start there and find out what happened to his SO rate late in 2024.
If all you are worrying about is strike outs, you may be missing the big picture. Estevez has always done just fine at striking enough batters out. His problem has been walking too many. His average was over 9% for his career through 2023. He cut that to 4% with the Angels this season. With that he transformed a career 1.422 WHIP into 0.909 overall in 2024 and 0.735 with the Angels and a career 4.42 ERA/4.16 FIP and 2023 3.90 ERA/3.94 FIP into a 2.38 ERA/2.87 FIP with the Angels and 2.45 ERA/3.24 FIP overall in 2024. .
Find out what changes he made with the Angels prior to the beginning of 2024 and get him back to doing that and you have a top 5 closer.
Just save time and say the Yankees and Dodgers are interested in everybody and leave it at that.
Esteves looks great at times but struggles when used two nights in a row or fairly often.
As long as Yankees don’t bring back Holmes. I’ll be thrilled.
Fun Fact of the Day:
Carlos Estevez is Charlie Sheen’s real name.
Winning!
Amazing coincidence, but MLB’s Carlos Estévez‘s real name is actually Charlie Sheen!
Goose Gossage was right that all these one inning pitchers are an embarrassment to the game.
there are better options than Esteves. Trading for Williams, Helsey even would be better than Esteves for 3 yrs.
Dominguez for Williams? Straight-up. Or Dominguez for Helsley?
Yep. Cashman is stupid enough to give away his top everyday player prospect for a one year rental.
Maybe…but your team made it to the World Series….despite the whiz bang fans in the outfield.
WOW !!
He had ONE really good year
Lots of players have ONE really good year and a LOT of ordinary or bad years
He sucked with the Phillies.
Absolutely choked playing with a contender.
He’s a second division pitcher.
As a Jay’s fan…bring him on!
What a joke the Angels and especially Arte are. Estevez told Perry Minasian that he wanted a 5 year deal to sign an extension so Arte told him to trade him.
@out you got to keep in mind it’s a mlbtr prediction. I do have a feeling the market is going to fizzle out again. Estevez might hit that mark
5 years in Estevez is insane.
No, almost no chance the NYY are interested in him as closer. They already have better guys.
If they did, they wouldn’t be interested. Holmes wasn’t. So who are these guys on the Yankees that were better than 2.45 ERA with 20 saves or more?
Tanner Scott is a better fit for them. They need lefties in that bullpen, and Yankee Stadium is built for lefties.
Not at $15-16 million avv ! Weaver is fine. They need 2 quality relievers 1setup man and another Loogy since Hill will be resigned and Mayza will be in AAA
Only reliever I’d spend on for the Yankees is Scott.
The reason some teams may not be interested in handing the closing job to Scott is his 12.6% walk rate. He puts 5 hitters on base for every 9 innings pitched.
Low WHIP.
Low Homer rate.
Low ERA.
He’s hard to beat, even with the free passes.
Yankees need to worry about the rotation first and find guys that guarantee at least 6 innings. Paying starting pitchers, the money they make is crazy if they are done in 4 innings or less.
Where is he on this list of WHIP? 51st
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&lg…
Now sort for K/BB? 120th
Now sort for FIP. 32nd.
There are reasons that some teams are not looking to make Scott their closer. That doesn’t mean he would not be a great setup man like he was in San Diego.
You know who the starting pitching version of Tanner Scott is? Blake Snell. He always drives me crazy because there are always men on base.
They can have him.
IMO, a mis-direction by the NYY. I seriously doubt this is the right guy for them. They need Scott.