The Yankees’ bullpen has seen a lot of turnover this offseason. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver departed in free agency, both later signing with the Mets. The club non-tendered Jake Cousins, Scott Effross, Mark Leiter Jr., and Ian Hamilton. Jonathan Loaisiga saw his club option declined, while Allan Winans was released to pursue an opportunity in Japan.
The club did pick up their option on lefty Tim Hill and re-sign Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn as depth pieces. Still, the bullpen looks thinner than last year behind Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, and closer David Bednar. What options do the Yankees have in the system at present? Let’s take a look at the possibilities.
Along with Bednar and Doval, Bird was one of three key bullpen acquisitions that the Yankees made at the 2025 trade deadline. Unfortunately, he was the least productive of the three. Bird made three appearances in early August, allowing six earned runs on four hits, two home runs, and two unintentional walks in just two innings. On August 5, New York optioned him to Triple-A, where he stayed for the remainder of the season.
Bird has pitched 232 1/3 big-league innings with a 4.76 ERA since debuting in 2022. He owns a career 21.1% strikeout rate and a 9.8% walk rate, although he upped his strikeout rate to an above-average 26.6% in 55 1/3 innings in 2025. In addition to the strikeouts, he has a 70th-percentile groundball rate that could play up with strong infield defense from Ryan McMahon, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Anthony Volpe (if he regains his Gold Glove-caliber defense following shoulder surgery). Bird also has a plus sweeper and curveball according to Statcast, though he’ll need to improve his sinker (-6 run value) if he plans to compete for middle- and high-leverage innings.
The Yankees claimed Headrick off waivers from the Twins in February 2025. He was shuffled between Triple-A and the majors, pitching 23 big-league innings in 17 appearances before ending the year on the injured list with a left forearm contusion. The results were serviceable. Headrick posted a 3.13 ERA with similar peripherals and struck out 32.6% of hitters against a 7.6% walk rate. That said, despite being a left-handed pitcher, he showed pretty drastic reverse platoon splits in 2025, allowing a .922 OPS with four home runs to lefty batters compared to a .484 OPS against righties.
Headrick is primarily a fastball-slider pitcher. His fastball has slightly-below-average velocity, and he allowed a 50.0% hard-hit rate against the pitch in 2025. His slider could be a useful pitch, as he struck out 44.4% of hitters on the pitch in a limited sample this year. At present, with Yarbrough figuring to start the year in the rotation, Headrick is the only lefty in the bullpen aside from Hill. That said, he may be best utilized as a depth arm given his hard-hit rates and struggles against same-handed pitching.
The Yankees selected Winquest from the Cardinals’ system in the Rule 5 Draft last month. The 25-year-old righty was an eighth-round pick in 2022 and split the 2025 season between High-A and Double-A. In 106 innings across both levels, Winquest posted a 3.99 ERA with a 23.9% strikeout rate and an 8.5% walk rate. He lowered his ERA from 4.52 in 63 2/3 High-A innings to 3.19 in 42 1/3 innings at Double-A. He also displayed improved control by lowering his walk rate, although his groundball rate declined sharply from 55.6% to 36.7%. As with any Rule 5 pick, it would be a surprise to see Winquest last the entire year on the major-league roster. He would be best used in low-leverage spots.
De los Santos was shuffled between Triple-A and the majors for most of the year, making 25 big-league appearances with a 3.28 ERA in 35 2/3 innings. On the plus side, he got groundballs at a well-above-average rate of 55.4% and allowed just 0.25 HR/9. He used his mid-90s sinker 54.6% of the time to great effect, with a run value of six according to Statcast. On the down side, his strikeout and walk rates were worse than average. His breaking pitches both had negative run values, making it easier for hitters to time up the sinker. De los Santos has one option year remaining, so he’ll continue to function as a depth piece.
Elmer Rodriguez / Chase Hampton
Rodriguez and Hampton were added to the 40-man roster in November for Rule 5 protection. They are the team’s No. 3 and No. 8 prospects according to MLB.com. Hampton missed the entire 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery and only pitched 18 2/3 innings in 2024. He looks like the longer shot to contribute in the big-league bullpen, though his plus fastball and slider combo may earn him looks later in the summer. Rodriguez has the higher upside of the two. He reached Triple-A in 2025 and pitched 150 innings in total across three levels, posting a 2.58 ERA with a 29.0% strikeout rate. Like Hampton, Rodriguez’s fastball and slider both grade as plus pitches. He will be in the mix but will need to work on his control if he is to stick in the majors.
______________________
As things currently stand, the Yankees’ bullpen has a mix of youth and depth options. Of the six players mentioned here, Bird has the most big-league experience, though he’ll need to re-establish himself after a rough introduction to New York over the summer. Rodriguez also has potential given his minor-league track record and high strikeout rate. That said, the other four profile as depth arms or have injury (Hampton) or durability concerns (Winquest). That leaves Bednar and Cruz as the high-leverage options, with Doval having a closer pedigree but coming off his own uneven debut in New York. Overall, the bullpen looks top-heavy and needs at least one or two reinforcements.
In the years since the Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton deals, the team has been reluctant to sign high-leverage relievers to long-term contracts. They could opt to raise the bullpen’s floor by adding affordable middle relievers with big-league experience, as well as another proven lefty to complement Hill. Andrew Chafin fits the mold and is currently available in free agency. Although he missed time with injuries, he continued to dominate left-handed hitters in 2025, allowing just a .454 OPS against them. If the Yankees want to focus on high-leverage arms, they could look to the trade market instead, perhaps by re-engaging the Cardinals on JoJo Romero.
Estrada from Pads is a deal waiting to happen?
So is a JoJo Romero.
Nah pass on all those guys. The Yankee bullpen is the least of their problems.
How is it the least of their problems? I argue it is their biggest problem. Their bullpen was good last year and they lost 2 of their best guys and added nobody.
Cashman excels as GM not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him
This is an absolutely fantastic perspective. Thank you so much for saying that.
(Yankees fan)
Touche
I’d rather work something out for Peralta, and Matsui.
Assume that’s Wandy (not Freddy) Peralta. I would pass on him and Matsui.
Would love if they added Estrada as another high leverage option…even if he is another righty.
If management goes with this synopsis it Sounds like they got it all sorted out… sorry my eye roll got locked on an upper vertebrae.
Right now NYY offseason is a D, bordering on a D- …. there is still time, but NYY fans are not hopeful
As fans and commenters we are all impatient for the “big” trade or acquisition……regardless of rumors and predictions, you still have to play 162 to figure out who goes forward into the playoffs and who doesn’t…..the Yankees seem to find a way into the playoffs….the disappointing issue is that they just haven’t been able to win the WS since 09 and the clock is ticking on Judge etc…..
Throughout much of Judge’s tenure, the Yankees seem to go into every season with at least one major question mark they neglected to address in the offseason. Second/third base last year. Left field for a number of years. Hoping for bounce back seasons from guys like Verdugo, Rizzo, Goldy, etc. Roster construction and depth has been a big issue. Just because Hal and Cash say they’ve built a team worthy of a championship doesn’t mean fans believe it. They do just enough to remain competitive in the division but rarely are they considered the top team in the league entering the season.
Agree with almost all….however, fans will never be satisfied even with a WS trophy ….their competitive record is pretty good compared to the rest of the league……even with a lack of playoff success once in….but the key fact is they have been “in” better than 90% of years since 2009…other teams fans would kill for that success rate I would think….
Rocky- i know the new format changes things somewhat, but is the goal to make the playoffs, or win the World Series. Im not trolling, I dont think anyone in baseball would saying winning anymore. The business has 100% taken over the sport.
In ranking all the majors:
NHL cares the most
NFL second most
MLB/NBA care co-equally the least
@Sad
I think is absolutely absurd to think that ANY business is insincere if they want to make money while competing. I don’t know all their expenses but I would imagine that the Yanks are in the upper tier of teams that put the most money back into the business. they do have other investors to be responsible for an unlike the Dodgers and the Mets, the Steinbrenner family tells mostly on money succeed from the Yanks as opposed to other non- team related businesses. Cohen is worth 11x what Hal is worth and Walter (?) is worth about 5 or 6 x and several of the other members of the Guggenheim Sports Group are worth more than Hal too. They can operate at a net zero or lots if they want to and it wouldn’t effect their daily lives at all. Now I’m not going to defend billionaire by I’m not going to ever accuse the Yanks of not making winning the #1 priority and honestly, spending the most doesn’t guarantee you anything. The Yanks tied for the most wins in the AL without Cole, Schmidt, Gil and Stanton for most of the season and an inexplicable r cost half regression from Williams. I give credit to Cashman for grooming an underrated farm that allowed him to plug in guys like Rice, Warren, Schlittler, using the farm to get Soto and Grisham in one trade last year and using non top 100 prospects to get Jazz, Bednar, Doval, Caballero and Rosario. A LF, a power an or two in the middle innings and maybe splurge on a SP or (gasp) maybe Breg6 would be great. Oh… and health. This team is still good enough to win 95-100 games and if we can go into the post season with Cole, Freid, Rondon and Gil then I’d take that. Guys just have to do their job on the field.
KFCF – I give Cashman more credit than most people will. True, the Yankees dont have the most money anymore, nor can they outspend everyone. But, they are the world’s top three most recognizable sports franchises. The Yankees are a money making machine. I agree that you don’t have to spend the most to win the most. Cashman won the trade deadline over the rest of MLB by a million miles last year.
Here’s where I differ from your analysis. The Yankees (in their defense, most teams do) lack the killer instinct from the personnel perspective that they had during George’s lifetime.
@Sad
I’m old enough to remember the 70s. Great teams. Since his death ppl have really romanticized his legacy. Please keep in mind that from 81 until 93 when he was basically banned from baseball, the Yanks member made the playoffs, burned thru 15-20 managerial changes and made a habit of trading away top prospects for older declining FA and signing FA, mostly near the end of their careers. I think Hal is absolutely committed to winning but doesn’t want to give up flexibility of the roster. I just can’t wrap my head around a fanbase that saw the Yanks continuously issue the largest contracts ever R, up until the Dodgers and the Soto deal and be called cheap. I mean they offered Soto $750 mil and I unlike the Mets org I seriously think they were going to sign Freid too because it didn’t make sense to bring back Soto and not fill the other bills to try and win immediately, especially after going to the WS.
1. The offseason isn’t over and there’s a ton of free agents out there as well plenty of trades to explore.
2. I already said this elsewhere but getting back Bellinger would bring us back to full strength offensively. If not him, I’m sure there will be another target.
3. As for pitching: We essentially already replaced Williams and Weaver at the deadline with Bednar and Doval. The options listed above can be as good as those others we let go. And the rotation has plenty of reinforcements coming from the IL as the season goes on.
4. This team competed last season with the same. Not every offseason needs to be a full on splurge. But bringing it back to my first point to close, this offseason is far from over…
Their “full strength” lineup in 2025 proved to be flawed in the playoffs. Cashman has already stated he felt they were too left handed and struck out too often. So even if they re-sign Belli they haven’t addressed the weakness in the lineup. Not sure they even can address the weakness without a trade of Jazz, McMahon, Rice or Wells.
I disagree with the premise that Bednar and Doval replaced Weaver and Williams. Weaver and Williams still pitched in high leverage spots in Aug, Sept and the playoffs. Williams excelled. Weaver did not.
I don’t think it’s wise to bank on the return of all their starters to top-of-the-rotation form. More than likely at least one of them will suffer a setback or struggle upon their return. It’s also inevitable that another rotation member will probably suffer an injury in spring training. That’s already been the case for the last how many years?
I think the team lacks sufficient depth as it’s currently constructed. They, at minimum, need reinforcements to the bullpen, back of rotation and the bench in addition to either Bellinger or equivalent acquisition to the starting lineup.
Yes, the off season is far from over. But the team needs upgrades and time is ticking….
@billy
Time is ticking for who? What more can the Yanks do but put forth a good offer? If they offered Tucker 10/$350 must they up the offer to $425 just to get him to say “yes” now? And what SP have signed that you think are worth what they signed for plus 110% luxury tax? Maybe Mike King but that’s it.I think Cease is very overrated and overpaid without factoring in the tax implications. We got to stop rushing things plus understand that not everyone wants to be a Yankee. Especially if they can get similar money in less stressed out markets. Some players might think $100 mil in Houston is better than $125 in NY.
100M in Houston is better than 125M in NY when factoring in state income taxes.
Time is ticking for the Yankees.
They need another starter.
They need at least two bullpen guys with at least one with high leverage experience.
They need to improve their lineup against lefties and they need to decrease their overall K rate. Cashman has publicly come out and said this yet there hasn’t been an improvement (yet).
They need to improve their bench/overall depth. Who’s the backup SS in April and May? Who is spelling Grisham, Rice, Wells, McMahon, Jazz, JDom against quality lefty pitching?
It’s not about rushing things. It’s about improving the team. We’ve seen BAL, BOS and TOR all improve their club drastically thus far. The off season is half over. So, yes, time is ticking for the Yankees to do something.
@thegreat
They get a D because they haven’t signed the guys they should have interest in that ate still on the table? I can argue that a LF and middle inning relief are the main concerns with upgrading the mid rotation, 3b and maybe, maybe SS are the only things to look to improve. I’m that case, other than maybe Mike King there’s no one of the table that we passed on. There’s no need to invest big money in a closer when you have two guys with 30 save seasons on their resume. Dylan Cease’s contract was crazy. Who did we miss?
Why can’t they sign a big money RP? Their bullpen faltered last year. Blake’s magic didn’t work in 2025. Seems silly to expect a bounceback in 2026. The Yankees can afford it. Don’t let them make you think otherwise.
@billy
Two things. The Yanks have two guys with 30 save seasons on their resume. Even if they can afford it, odds it smart to spend $69 mil plus 110% luxury tax plus the loss of draft picks and international pool money? It’s possible that signing Diaz plus others could cost them their first 5 picks in the draft. I’d rather they find some power arms for the 5th-7th inning or push Warren or Schlittler to the pen once Rondon comes back and then Cole.
Curious…. have you ever owned a business?
Not that it matters but I own 2 businesses. What does that have to do with this?
Does Hal open the books for you? What kind of margins is he operating with? Just because he tells you he doesn’t make as much money as we think doesn’t mean it’s true.
How much confidence did Doval inspire us with at the end of last season? And to correct you, Doval has had one season with 30+ saves. In 2024 he had 23 saves with a 4.88 ERA. He had a 4.82 ERA with NY last year and more troubling was a 1.607 WHIP.
There’s a large gap between signing the few QO FA like Diaz and signing no one to bolster the pen. Other guys without the loss of draft picks were available for nothing but money
Times ticking for everyone and I’ll still say we’re at a decent place. Do you really think we’ll do nothing? Because we’ve already resigned a few decent useful pieces and one major cog last year in Grisham. Even with deficiencies we still almost got to the Series, like how do you discount that? We had some huge runs lastly year. Had one happened during the ALCS who knows what would have happened? Baseball is tricky like that. Toronto and LA both had bad moments during the season, too, like it’s impossible to predict. So when Cashman or Hal say things like they believe they have a winning team, how is that not believable with everything we’ve seen out of this group? We didn’t even have Cole last year! Do we need to pick it up right now? Yes, let’s get some more needed bodies. But do I think we’re failing right now? Nah. And I do think we’ll be competitive either way.
ALCS?? Almost got to the Series?? What round did they get bounced last year? You might want to double check that LOL
Whatever, literally typing while I was driving, you get the point. We were competitive. You cannot argue that.
LMAO “whatever… you get the point”
No. You don’t get the point.
They made the playoffs and were laughed out of the divisional round. After being embarrassed throughout the season by TOR they were embarrassed by TOR in the playoffs. Now TOR has improved themselves thus far. So has BOS and BAL. Being “competitive” is not enough when you have one of the highest ticket prices in the sport, one of the highest cost of watching the team on TV in the sport and your owner constantly cries about the cost of doing business all while telling fans they have a “championship caliber team” where anyone with a brain knows that they’re flawed in many areas.
And EVERY0NE has flaws. Please I don’t get it lol. I see a fan here who is a bit too entitled and thinks it’s that easy to construct a roster. It’s not.
@billy
Boston- Contreras + Gray with a 6+ career era at Fenway possibly minus Bregman. Lucas Giolito hasn’t been resigned yet. Who do they have behind Crochet, Gray and Bello that are solid?
Toronto- Signed Dylan Cease to be their ace and in 2 out of the last 3 seasons he’s had an ERA over 4.50 and last year an ERA over 5 away from PETCO. They signed Cody Ponce who struggled so mightily to make it in the mlb that he went to Korea. Yes, he has had great success and improved his repertoire but if we consider the KBO to be below the mlb talent level and a step below the Japanese league and more like AA to AAA level then what can we tally count on from Ponce? Plus you completely gloss over the fact that Toronto has yet to resign Bichette, their leader in RBIs last year. They’ve also yet to resign Chris Bassitt their leader in wins last year.
Baltimore added Alonzo. Great! He joins a team that only had 1 player post an OPS over. 700. Great they bring back Efin with his near 6 ERA and Baz, who has good stuff but has been widely inconsistent and had an ERA near 5 last year.
You’re not having an honest conversation here. You speak of the Yanks “inactivity” as if Bellinger, Tucker, Bichette, Bregman, Valdez, R. Suarez, E. Suarez, Okamato and a bunch of middle relief arms aren’t still on the table. You point out that the Yanks haven’t signed Beli and ignore the FA that the other AL teams haven’t resigned yet. And you seem to ignore that the Yanks tied for the most wins in the AL WITHOUT half of their rotation, uncertainty at 3b, a shaky closer and no Stanton for most of the season. Of course EVERYONE has to do their job and stay healthy but you’re very biased in your view of the AL teams. Let’s have this discussion in March when most of these guys should be with their perspective teams. And for the record, Hal never cried broke and publicly said he’s not given Cashman any hard budget to go buy and when asked he said “tes” he would love to reduce payroll but then said “will we? Likely not”. He said if Cashman came to him with a player that made them better then he had the green light. Choosing not to spend $65 million plus 110% luxury tax on a closer when you just traded for Bednar and Doval isn’t a good example of them being cheap or not wanting to win. It COULD be an example of wanting to spend that money on areas of greater need.Plus there’s always the trade market which is where we got Beli (who they picked up most of his contract for) and Williams thru trades.
I feel like the off season has not even started for many teams.
Yankees are wasting Cole and Judge prime years. They should be flooring the accelerator right now before those two start getting too old, which clock is ticking…
If 2026 is actually a Cole “prime year”, they would have a staff headed by two stoppers followed by at least two #2 guys,
Cole’s prime was in Houston
Jeterism is obsolete, Cashman and the Yanks make the playoffs every year which is more than I can say for every team except the Dodgers., the playoffs are outlier!
Are wasting Cole prime years? Have wasted Cole prime years.
Yep, Cole is 35 and coming off elbow surgery. His prime is long gone.
Cole should have won his last game against the Dodgers if the Yanks could field.
You mean if Cole remembers to cover first
Depending on his recovery, maybe consider bringing back Jake Cousins,
I get there’s still a lot of pieces on the board but damn i mean if you don’t win typically you’d try to get better for next year and the yanks are not better right now. Improvements are:
Full year of cole, schlittler, Gil, bednar, more AB’s for Rice, jazz at 2B full time, mcmahon at 3B all year, hopefully healthy volpe and caballero around all year. Maybe warren steps forward in year 2. Rosario around as bench improvement.
Losses potentially bellinger. Williams and weaver gone, in addition to other bp depth pieces. Minus some minor league depth because of deadline trades. Will grisham repeat? Goldy gone, wasn’t great but mashed lefties in a lineup that generally struggles vs lhp, hasn’t quite been replaced.
I think if belli is signed and the bullpen is even fortified just a bit a case can be made that a 94 win team has ever so slightly improved. But when you’re as close as the Yankees are you look for put me over the top moves.
With all that said, Fangraphs has them 2nd in WAR to the Dodgers, not a bad starting point.
It’s not, and i like what I’ve seen as far as identifying some organizational deficiencies in approach and fundamentals. As much as we criticize the higher ups it is a well run organization that seems at least mostly self aware
Yankees will add bullpen depth but i wouldn’t expect anything major barring a trade for Romero. Probably add guys on minor league contracts or see who gets cut in spring training
The 4.76 ERA for Bird needs more context. 230 innings of that was as a Rocky. His ERA+ was 106 for that spell, so a bit above average. Yes, he had severe problems in the Yankee’s system, but over 17.2 innings. He’s only 30, so has a decent chance for a bounce back.
He also wasn’t very good away from Coors.
You’re right. Maybe he should go back to the Rockies then. More valuable there than elsewhere.
Bird is NOT the word.
Rodriguez-Cruz a good fall back plan.
I think Yerry De Los Santos sticks all year. Sinker-baller, great GB / HR/9 rates. He is a good option in the top of the sixth.
Looks like the Yankees are going to be middle of the pack in the NL East for years to come with the combination of age of their star players and lack of offseason moves. Pair that with having Blue Jays and Red Sox clearly having better rosters and the Orioles primed for a bounce back season… may be rough in the big apple this year.
@Goetta
Yanks are in the AL East btw. You’re acting lil there aren’t still more than half the top 10 guys on the board. What exactly have the Sox done to topple the Yanks? Just as you assume the Yanks haven’t find anything, the Dox might lose Bregman and replaced him with Contreras who I guess will play 1B. They went have Devers obviously. Sonny Gray has a 6.84 lifetime era at Fenway and is a notorious homer prone pitcher moving from Busch to a smaller park. What have the Jays done? Cody Ponce is an unknown quantity. Can you count on him to me an impact pitcher? Have they signed Bichette yet? Other than a middle relief pitcher in Rodgers they haven’t done much either. What did Baltimore do to their rotation? Nothing. And their lineup only had 1 guy in Alonzo who you can redirect to hit over 25 homers next year. I’m not too worried.
You should be
Great answer. Ignore everything I said.
Grumble…..grumble some more. They brought in all this “talent” last year….and don’t seem to have much for it.
Yankees will not win a World Series with this split approach. They cannot succeed with a Brian Cashman/Aaron Boone tandem, especially under Hal Steinbrenner’s artificial cap.
Cashman is incredibly wasteful. $36MM/2 years for Stroman; $50MM/ 2 years for Donaldson; Goldy, 1/ 12.5MM; Carrasco, 1/ $1.5MM; Grisham this season, 1/ $22MM; DJL, 6/ $90MM, Aaron Hicks 7/ $70MM; Paul Blackburn, 1 / $2MM, Pablo Reyes, 1/ $1MM, and Stanton, who was a bad move (I am NOT including Stanton’s salary for this though).
All in all, Cashman’s wasteful spending (this doesn’t include many of the smaller contracts either) in just recent history has amounted to a $212MM in notable wasteful contracts, excluding Stanton.
But, even not taking into account the earlier portions of those longer contracts, the Yankees spent on wasteful AAVs in 2022-2024, $84MM!
Think about what (or who) they could’ve acquired if they shopped near the top-of-the-market with $84MM AAVs. I mean, Imai only cost the same as Stroman! And they cut him.
Nope, Fangraphs has the Yanks slotted in 2nd behind the Dodgers right now. The Yanks team as it sits today can win 95 games and Cashman has them in the playoffs every year. Something teams like the Jays,, Rays and Sox can’t say. Jeterism is dead, you are not a failure if you make the playoffs. The playoffs are outlier.
I don’t see how 95 games is conceivable, especially given the production they lost. And how are they better than the Blue Jays who have improved? I don’t trust those stats. The problem is that the Yankees front office builds their teams around those stats.
I guess time will tell, but if they are 95-game winners I would be shocked.
I mean if the starting 5 for most of the season is Cole, Fried, Rodon, schlittler, Gil/warren I’d say it’s likely a top 5 rotation. Paired with an above average offense minus bellinger I’d say it’s conceivable at least
Yeah, but that has a lot of assumptions built in too. Cole is coming off surgery, Rodon also coming off surgery. And offensively, they crush mediocre pitching and mediocre teams, so they get a lot of wins from those matchups alone, but the offense is notably weaker without Belli, and pen is weaker. I just don’t see 95 at this point.
Hey, I could obviously be wrong, but how do we gain wins when we are weaker (at this point) and the Sox, Bal, and Jays got better? I dunno, man, maybe I’m just too jaded at this point to see it.
Whenever they play on the NJ turnpike and it’s broadcast on 1010 AM radio?
This is where I would put the flushing toilet jpeg.
As a Yankee fan, I want to Belli back and to sign Chafin plus maybe one other BP piece. I’m not worried about the rotation at all, we will start out a little thin but at some point we may actually have to put good starters in the pen when the injured guys come back. Defense will be better with McMahon and Jazz having a full year at 2B. This is a good team already and I don’t think we need a big splash. I’d love a better shortstop, but there’s not really one available (Bichette will be better as a 2B)
Yankees fans saying the bullpen is the least of their problems are not looking at the Yankee season through the proper lens.
Offensively, the Yankees led in nearly every category.
Starting pitch-wise, the Yankees were top 4-7, depending on which stat or metric you want to use. With these two they won 94 games.
Their bullpen was around the bottom third last season.
Now the Yankees bullpen pitched nearly 40 percent of their innings last year and if you go back 20years that is a 100 more innings than in 2005
I think some Yankee fans are still clinging on to the couple of relievers, get it to Mariano mentality, but those days are long gone,
Bullpens have become as much of a contributor to winning as the starting staff and the contracts being dished out for relievers are beginning to acknowledge that reality.
The Yankees bullpen cost them a lot of games and changed their fortunes in the playoff setup.
Their bullpen is currently in worse shape than it was last season, and to go into this season weakening your weakest link makes no sense.
This is 100% correct and I don’t understand how so many people don’t see it. Blows my mind. Just to go a step further, their offense is mainly home run or bust. They’re not winning any titles with that approach. It hasn’t worked all of these years and they refuse to change it.
Yanks won 94 games last year, did you forget?
That’s great. And what did it get them? Oh, that’s right, an early exit from the postseason. Again. You’re CLEARLY not a Yankees fan and are just a troll. Otherwise, you’d know that despite their record, they were painful to watch. Run along little guy.
I think You’re absolutely right. I wrote a longer reply earlier but for some odd reason it got deleted?
Bird didn’t do any better in AAA once he flamed out with the Yankees. A 6.32 ERA isn’t acceptable in any league.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bird–000jak
Rodriguez, who’ll pitch this year at age 22, was doing well at AA Somerset and had just one appearance for AAA Scranton. Still very young, he needs a good half season before the organization considers promoting him. But the potential is clearly there — more so than for Bird.
That was a small sample, you have to look at his whole record.
There aren’t many moves to be made for the Yankees at this point. They should have went after Alonso and sured up 1b once they screwed up and offered Grisham the qualifying offer and committed to him in CF for 2026. Bellinger I don’t trust the longer this situation drags out.
I’ll give you the Yankees bullpen options for free agency, here they are:
Fernando Rodney (57 years old)
Fernando Rodriguez (67 years old, retired)
Richard Lovelady (Not a free agent)
Chance Ruffin (8.38 ERA in 2013)
Roman Quinn (Outfielder)
Ryan Braiser (Literally 38 Years Old)
Jack Quilty (Not a baseball player)
Fernando Rodney (Literally 58 years old)
Rodriguez is a starter all the way. No way he’s going to the bullpen.
Nothing wrong with starters earning their spot by working out of the bullpen at first. If the MLB rotation proves to have the depth to finish the season and ERC stays injury free he could benefit from a bullpen spot on the big league club.
Tired of reading the Yankees are wasting Judge and Cole years! 2 players do not win World Series! Every season we trade a huge chunk of the farm for a crap shoot chance to make it all the way. It gets to the point where you need to infuse youth and athleticism on the roster and make moves during the season. I really think they can fill in the back of the bullpen and rotation temporarily with what they have. Elmer Rodriguez is ready and may battle for 5th rotation spot. They can move Gil or Warren to the pen. Ben Hess and Lagrange can come up and give us innings also.
What the Yankees need the most is high contact bats and the only way they get that is to trade for it.
Two names fit that mold the best in Nico Hoerner and Brendan Donovan. They will have to use Jazz in a three way trade to get one of those guys. Jazz is a great video game stat compiler but he will be a free agent just like Hoerner but Hoerner is a much needed RH bat that can lead off. Yes Jazz is a five tool stud who can play great defense as well but you never know what you’re getting with Jazz. Saying that his value is at its highest and I really think he’s going for 40/40 this season and will make a ton of money in free agency. So they need to move him now and bring in Hoerner to play SS and leadoff and Donovan to handle second and left field. Bellinger is waiting on Tucker and I’m guessing they are not happy with what the Yanks have offered so the Yanks need to pivot and not wait on him any longer. 4 years max is what they should offer him at 25m per year. If he can get 5 well good for him and let Jones and Dominguez battle it out for LF.
So trade Jazz and acquire Nico in a 3 team deal. Then take on Arenado contract to bring down the return for Donovan. Arenado right hand bat can platoon at third and play some first. Send a few arms to St Louis. They may have to send Gil which would be a big loss with a few mid prospects if they take Arenado contract.
Just my take….
You can argue they trade “a good chunk of their farm” every year but what prospect did they really miss over the last 10 years? I’d argue they don’t trade enough guys at the height of their prospect hype. Look at guys like Florial, Pereira, Peraza, Y Gomez, Chance Adams, etc. Those guys could have gotten something worthwhile back at some point. Instead they were DFA’d or traded for fodder.
They went with Volpe over signing Seager, Turner, etc.
JDom did not look good last year. Where was his power? His defense was pretty bad. And he was terrible against lefties.
Spencer Jones is worth less now than he was last year and the year before. What will he become?
Yes so they should have dealt Judge when he was striking out allot in minors or Gil or Warren. Sometimes you take gambles on kids based off of talent and character. Your aren’t is they should have known to trade every prospect away before the value tanked. I still think JD and Wells and Volpe can turn into productive Yankees. I don’t give up on players so quickly.
Judge is the only one. He debuted over 10 years ago LOL
What gives you hope for Volpe? He hasn’t improved at all in three years. In fact he’s regressed. Now we go into another season on a hope and prayer…
I’m with you Billy, I didn’t used to think this way, but since the only star position player we’ve had as a prospect was Judge, I am all for trading any prospect when we have a need. Don’t believe in their player development on the position player side
On paper the yankees have a good team and yes they have some horses coming back like Cole. They yankees aren’t cheap as they should be able to put a championship team together for 300 million however how you spend that 300 million is a different story. But with that a lot needs to happen. Yes as it is now the yankees have starters to get by without cole , rodon and Schmidt but what if fried or will warren or someone else gets hurt? Suppose the yankees go without beli and use Dominguez and Spencer jones… what if judge gets injured again this year and can’t play and the Dominguez still can’t play with a high level of defense and Jones shows he isn’t ready? Id rather have a insurance arm perhaps michael Lorenzen who can both start and be a reliever as well as sign beli who provides outfield and 1b insurance! Let go NY!
They need to sign Bartolo Colón
The spell cashman has hal under, needs to be studied.
He’s like a pseudo father/uncle to him, he’ll never be fired
Yankees squandering Judges prime years.
With regards to the Yanks bullpen keys start with Bednar as the closer. Doval as the 8th inning guy. Cruz in the 6th inning role. Hill as one of the lefties. Medium velocity guys like Santos (95 mph) and Headrick (94) each had ERA/FIP in 3s. They collectively thru about 60 innings for the Yanks last year. Yanks have high velocity options like lefty Jayvien Sandridge (26) and righties Cade Winquest (25, rule 5 draft) and Kervin Castro (26, minor league FA) already on the 40 man roster. They all throw high 90s but have some control issues. Top prospects Elmer Rodriguez Cruz and Chase Hampton are both on the 40 man and could be options to look at in ST. Carlos Lagrange isn’t on the 40 man yet. He reminds me a lot of Delin Betances (a towering, powerful right-handed pitching prospect for the Yankees known for a triple-digit fastball (97-99 mph, touching 102+) with great carry and a plus wipeout slider, improving command and consistency, and “ace upside,” though still developing his overall arsenal and control for potential frontline MLB impact).
Finally, the Yanks are set to go into ST with Freid, Gil, Warren and Schlittler. If they decide to add another starter thru free agency then when they get Rondon, and eventually Cole back in the rotation, they might decide to slide Warren and/or Schlittler to the pen, in the case of the latter for innings count purposes. Schlittler could be huge coming out the bullpen and Warren’s stuff might play up too with his FB/CURVE repertoire. I would prefer they keep Gil in the rotation but he could be a candidate too if the others are strong.