The Yankees are expected to re-sign right-hander Paul Blackburn, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s a one-year deal worth $2MM. The Boras Corporation client can earn an additional $500K through incentives.
Blackburn landed with the Yankees after getting released by the Mets in August. He made eight appearances with the club, recording a 5.28 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning. Blackburn had been a starter for the majority of his career, but worked strictly as a reliever with the Yankees. The now 32-year-old had a miserable debut with the team, allowing seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings to begin his time in the Bronx. He bounced back from there, holding opponents to just two earned runs over his next 12 innings.
Blackburn spent the first seven years of his big-league career with the Athletics. He offered modest results as a back-of-the-rotation depth piece, with stretches of above-average performance. The Mets picked up Blackburn in a minor trade at the 2024 deadline. He struggled through five starts with the team to close that season. Blackburn dealt with spine and knee injuries heading into the 2025 campaign. He didn’t appear in a game until June, and then missed another six weeks with a shoulder issue. Blackburn tossed five scoreless innings in his first outing of the season. He then gave up at least three runs in each of the next five appearances.
While Blackburn was solely a reliever for the Yankees, the contract incentives suggest there might be room for a rotation spot. He gets $100K if he reaches 80 innings, and an additional $100K for each 10-inning milestone he hits up through 120 innings. New York has a relatively soft rotation behind Max Fried and Cam Schlittler. Luis Gil, Will Warren, and Ryan Yarbrough will likely fill out the rest of the staff. Carlos Rodon, Gerrit Cole, and Clarke Schmidt are currently on the mend.
I think this subs for Imai…….NOT
Wow, first Rosario and now this. The Yankees love former Mets. I wonder if they’ll bring back Carrasco too. /s
Paging Daniel Vogelbach. . .
Blackburn signing in the dead of night
Lol, good one!
That’s excellent.
The famous pirate Blackbeard uses a mirror and he finds ten moles on his back.
Being a health-conscious pirate, he books an appointment with his local dermatologist to get them checked out. The dermatologist takes a look and says “Well, Mr. Pirate, I have done a thorough examination and I am pretty sure they’re benign”
Blackbeard replies “Arrrrrr, can ye check again? I’m sure there be ten!”
You charge per appearance or hourly?
Ooof.
All i read was “Paul Skenes traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone”
Perfectly reasonable trade for all sides.
A third team has entered, the Yankees are getting rushing pages and Roki for Clint Frazier
Couldn’t get King, so pivoted to Blackburn. Solid.
I think “yuck” is the only fair reaction.
I have nothing against this signing, he actually looked like he knew what he was doing when I saw him pitch in relief. No, what scares me is what it might imply. Hal is in a penny pinching mode by all accounts. Is this how the bullpen issues are going to be addressed? If so, Yankees fans need to run to their dentist and have a tooth guard built because I almost hear teeth grinding already… Putting a positive spin on the news Cashman might be on the verge of a major move, one which will tie up a lot of money. Although Bellinger would seem to be the obvious choice my bet would be to buy Imai (assuming of course that the front office has a consensus that Imai is the real deal), put the younger, cheaper Martian in left field, find a right-handed glove to be his caddy. With Imai the team won’t feel pressured to rush any of their rehabbing pitchers back, and they should have some quality spare starters to trade for offensive reinforcements as the season progresses. Unfortunately, the roster construction isn’t ideal, the outfield is thin, and so is the left side of the infield. This free agent market is just about the worst case scenario for the Yankees to optimize what they have. But “there’s no crying in baseball”.
Honestly I see this like the Weaver signing a couple year backs after we just got a sample size of him. Failed starter turned reliever still finding his footing, but may have something there. Look at Brad Keller for an example as well.
I’m not thinking of this any other way, but good deal.
No postseason for the Yanks in 2026.