Nov

Yanks will not overpay for relief pitchers

Are we really entering a new era of Yankee spending?

While the recent contracts for Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera show that the Yanks are willing to spend money for established players, recent word from the Bronx is that the Yankees are not going to overspend on bullpen pitchers. In his latest notes column, FoxSports’ Ken Rosenthal speaks on the Yanks’ efforts to shore up the bullpen:

The Yankees will not go beyond a certain financial threshold with free-agent relievers when they can fill certain roles from within, sources say. The team, for example, could pass on left-hander Ron Mahay, if his price — as expected — rises above $12 million over three years, the amount the Phillies awarded J.C. Romero.

Rosenthal notes that the Yankees are more than willing to look internally for bullpen options. Without delving into the slew of arms coming back from Tommy John surgeries, he mentions Sean Henn, Kei Igawa and Chase Wright from the left and Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Veras, Britton, Bruney and Edwar from the right.

Now, few of those names inspire much confidence in Yankee-land. Kei Igawa? Chase Wright? Brian Bruney? Yikes.

But the reality of the situation is that this shift in philosophy is a long time coming. How often have the Yankees gotten burned on high-priced bullpen flops? Steve Karsay, Paul Quantrill, Kyle Farnsworth, Felix Heredia. The list is endless.

For the all the pain that Bruney puts us through, his numbers are no worse than the guys getting four-year, $19-million contracts this winter. While the savings represent pennies compared to the overall Yankee payroll, I’d much rather see the Yanks use cost-efficient options instead.

Categories : Death by Bullpen

17 Comments»

Mike A. says:

November 28, 2007 at 10:21 pm

Amen, just go with the cheap internal solutions. They don’t need to have a big name to be effective. But in the name of all that is holy, just please make sure they throw strikes. I suffered threw enough Scott Proctor walk-off bases loaded walks in my lifetime.

Bill Porter says:

November 28, 2007 at 10:32 pm

“I suffered threw enough Scott Proctor walk-off bases loaded walks in my lifetime.” Hopefully, now you can enjoy those.

Huuz says:

November 28, 2007 at 10:42 pm

one of the biggest advantages of “cheap” bullpen corps is the ease with which you can shuffle roster spots.

it sure is painful to DFA a guy making $4M/year, but not so bad, $400k/year.

that said, i’d be thrilled to get troy percival for a one-year deal (i know that the rays might give him more years…)

who knows, maybe Ca$h can swindle the cubs out of prior…? wishful thinking…

Mike A. says:

November 28, 2007 at 10:58 pm

I can understand wanting to close and all, but wouldn’t you think that Percival would prefer to come to a team that has a legit shot at a WS title at this point in his career?

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iYankees says:

November 28, 2007 at 10:48 pm

That’s wierd about Rosenthal’s evaluation of Wright. I wrote about that just yesterday, so feel free to check it out if you’d like. Beyond that, Wright is a good option for a lefty in the pen. He’s got a fastball with movement and gets groundballs, plus he’s been especially effective against lefties (and he could still get righties out). He has some control issues though, so we’ll see what that does.

Chase Wright Post at iYankees:
http://thebronxzoo.wordpress.c.....ght-lefty/

waswhining says:

November 28, 2007 at 10:52 pm

hmm so the twinkies now have a new cf….I’m getting confused here.

Mike A. says:

November 28, 2007 at 11:00 pm

Yes. Pridie is the new CF, Young the new RF, Cuddyer shifts from RF to LF, and Kubel DH’s. I’m assuming of course, but it makes sense.

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Travis G. says:

November 28, 2007 at 11:01 pm

so the Yanks wont overpay for relief pitchers? they already did. his name is Mariano.

Mike A. says:

November 28, 2007 at 11:02 pm

I think a better title would be “the yanks won’t overpay for MEDIOCRE relievers.” Mo may be declining, but the man is still unbelievably awesome.

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dan says:

November 28, 2007 at 11:05 pm

“when they can fill certain roles from within”

1- certain roles
2- Mariano is “within”

I get what you mean, but overpaying for a middle reliever is different than overpaying for Mariano.

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iYankees says:

November 28, 2007 at 11:18 pm

Overpay for relievers? Can someone say, Kei Igawa?

Yikes.

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Ivan says:

November 28, 2007 at 11:21 pm

Well that’s good.

eddy b says:

November 29, 2007 at 12:10 am

I’ve searched high and low for Humberto Sanchez info and can’t find much. He’s listed on espn.com as number 3 on the depth chart out of the bullpen. There was an awful lot of promise surrounding him after the Sheff trade until his Tommy John-ing. Anyone know what the Yankees/Girardi think of him? or is he just an unknown quantity right now coming off that surgery? and did i read he had a hard sinker and + breaking stuff?

Travis G. says:

November 29, 2007 at 12:18 am

from Bryan Hoch at Yankees.com -
‘Sanchez had season-ending Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in April and missed the whole 2007 campaign, which is a risk the Yankees have said they understood when they acquired him from the Tigers. Even at the time of that deal, there were whispers that Sanchez could be better suited in the long run to relief pitching, and he says he’s open to anything that gets him to the Major Leagues in the quickest fashion.

If Sanchez continues on his current recovery pace and has no major setbacks, he should be on a mound sometime in Spring Training but probably not quickly enough to break camp with the team. It might not be out of the question to see him providing some innings by May or June. He checked in with the Yankees in September and said he’s looking forward to the opportunities awaiting him.’

He could be similar to Joba 07. a great fb/slider combo. did you see him at the Futures game last year? he dominated 3 of the best hitting prospects in baseball. the video used to be on youtube but i cant find it now.

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- eddy b says:
  
  November 29, 2007 at 12:26 am
  
  Thanks — He’s like Numb. 3 on the espn depth chart right now.. I wonder if Girardi/Eiland are as high on him?
  
  Reply