A HILL OF BEANS
Yanks ship reliever Ottavino to rival Red Sox for player to be named or cash
The Yankees are hoping they can add by subtracting, sending reliever Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox.
Along with Ottavino, the Yankees sent prospect Frank German and cash in exchange for a player to be named or cash considerations, the team announced Monday.
By sending Ottavino to Boston, the Yankees clear nearly $8 million from their payroll as they try to stay under the $210 million luxury tax threshold and clear another spot on the 40-man roster. The Bombers, however, just have to hope Ottavino doesn’t rediscover the nasty slider that disappointed them so many times down the stretch in 2020.
The New York native struggled in 2020 (5.89 ERA) after an unreliable run in the 2019 postseason. He made just one appearance in seven playoff games in 2020. That certainly handcuffed manager Aaron Boone in the postseason.
Ottavino admitted to YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits last month that he didn’t do the job, but felt if he had more time he could have turned it around.
“I felt like it wasn’t good enough,” Ottavino said on YES’ Hotstove show. “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 toward 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 also allowed three earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched as the Yankees lost to the Astros in the 2019 ALCS.
That was not what the Yankees were expecting when they invested more than $40 million to build a super bullpen back in 2018, signing Zack Britton and Ottavino and re-signing Aroldis Chapman, to shore up the back end. But in the pandemic-shortened, 60-game season, the Yankees’ bullpen was not as dominant. It finished in the middle of the pack of the American League with a 4.51 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP and the season ended for the second straight year with a home run off of Chapman.
The Yankees did make an investment in the bullpen’s future this winter by picking up the option on Zack Britton’s contract, which now runs through the 2022 season. They also signed former Yankee Adam Warren to a minor-league contract.