New York needs more than signing Lemahieu
With batting champion still on the market, relievers an important consideration
In this slow-moving Yankees offseason, it does not look like Bombers fans will be getting a re-signed DJ Lemahieu for Christmas — they also will not likely even be able to ring in the New Year toasting the return of the batting title champion. The hunt for starting arms is also going at a snail’s pace right now.
While the Yankees have yet to sign a player to a major league contract this winter, maybe they should be trying to start 2021 by looking at really bolstering their bullpen.
That need was brought to the forefront this week when Shaker High graduate Tommy Kahnle, whom the Yankees let go to free agency, signed a two-year deal with the defending World Series champion Dodgers.
Kahnle played an underrated role in 2019, appearing in 72 games with a 1.06 WHIP, and he made just one appearance in 2020 before needing Tommy John surgery. His presence in what was supposed to be a shutdown bullpen was missed in 2020. In seven postseason appearances with the Yankees, Kahnle allowed three earned runs over 111⁄ innings pitched (2.38
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ERA) and struck out 10. Kahnle will likely not be able to pitch again until 2022 because of rehab, which is a
reason the Yankees cut him loose.
The position he left open needs to be filled.
The Yankees invested more than $40 million to build a super bullpen back in 2018, signing Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino and re-signing Aroldis Chapman, to shore up the back end. In the coronavirus pandemic-shortened, 60-game season, the Yankees’ bullpen was not as dominant. They finished in the middle of the American League pack with a 4.51 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP and their season ended for the second straight year with a home run off of Chapman.
The Yankees did already make an investment in the bullpen’s future by picking up the option on Britton’s contract, which now runs through the 2022 season. They also signed former Yankee Adam Warren to a minor league contract.
But they have issues they need to consider going into 2021, including their faith in the 35-yearold Ottavino.
The New York native struggled so much in 2020 (5.89 ERA) after being unreliable in the 2019 postseason, so he made just one appearance in seven Yankees playoff games this season. That certainly handcuffed Yankees manager Aaron Boone in the postseason.
Chad Green, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa are reliable multi-inning relievers the Yankees have headed into 2021 after non-tendering Jonathan Holder this month. They could also look to use some of their young, developing starters like Nick Nelson and Miguel Yajure in relief again.
They are going to need to rediscover confidence in Ottavino or go out and find some arms for insurance.
Ottavino admitted to YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits this week that he didn’t do the job, but feels if he had more time he could have turned it around.
“I felt like it wasn’t good enough,” Ottavino said on the network’s “Hotstove” show Monday. “Obviously, I wasn’t consistent and I didn’t induce the weak contact that I usually do. I felt like I kind of ran out of time there, starting to get going there towards the end. I liked the way I was throwing it headed into the playoffs, but I kind of ran out of time.”
Ottavino’s numbers in 2020 were definitely skewed by a horrendous appearance in Buffalo against the Blue Jays in which he allowed six earned runs without recording an out. He was better in his final seven outings, but not dominant enough to overcome the doubts that were already there.
Ottavino allowed three earned runs in 21⁄ innings
3 pitched as the Yankees lost to the Astros in the 2019 American League Championship Series.
Ottavino is owed $9 million next season. With the Yankees trying to resign Lemahieu and build a rotation behind Gerrit Cole while remaining under the $210 million luxury tax threshold, Ottavino’s name has come up as a possible trade candidate.
However they do it, the Yankees need to find a reliable bridge to that back end of the bullpen. The free agent market just happens to be stocked with right-handed relievers, including the hardthrowing Archie Bradley, who would seem like a smart fit. The Yankees have also reportedly expressed some interest in Ryne Stanek. Bradley, a hard-throwing right hander, was non-tendered by the Reds, but struck out 18 in 181⁄ innings with the
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Diamondbacks and Reds this season.
The Yankees are waiting on Lemahieu’s decision and need to solidify their rotation behind Cole, but the bullpen was also an issue they need to look at heading into 2021.