Big question: How to prepare the bullpen for the middle innings?
Continuing to look through some of the Yankees' big offseason decisions, we move on to what is really a series of smaller decisions that add up to one big decision about who to keep and who to sacrifice as bullpen depth, which will inevitably come into play.
---
With their roster overloaded with pitching depth, the Yankees have wasted no time setting priorities and making choices.
J.R. Graham was an unnecessary bit of depth, so he was outrighted. Kirby Yates and Blake Parker were deemed replaceable, and they were lost on waivers. Anthony Swarzak no longer had a role, and so he was dismissed into free agency.
Initial offseason moves have done the bare minimum, creating enough open space on the 40-man roster to activate everyone off the 60-day disabled list and keep Kyle Higashioka from becoming a minor league free agent.
What comes next is an offseason of more priorities and more choices, especially when it comes to the pitching staff.
Among the key decisions for the Yankees: Which of these 23 pitchers on the roster actually have a role going forward, and which are expendable either on the trade market or as DFA fodder to make way for free agents and Rule 5 prospects.
“I think there was an area of weakness in middle relief trying to get to (the late-inning relievers) when we were a different bullpen before the trade deadline,” Brian Cashman said. “We had trouble getting to the seventh, eighth and ninth. And then after the deadline, that fifth (and) sixth inning range was something that we had a lot of different names coming and going. But we had trouble navigating the entire year on that.”
The Yankees need to improve their middle relief, and doing so might depend on choosing the right middle relief candidates for next season. And they likely won’t have enough room for all of the options currently on their roster.
Most of the excess on the Yankees’ 40-man comes within the pitching staff. Aside from non-tender candidate Dustin Ackley, there’s not a position player to pass risk-free through waivers. Austin Romine? Rob Refsnyder? Mason Williams? Ronald Torreyes? Those might be replaceable given enough moving parts, but those aren’t quick and easy cuts that come with no hesitation.
So as the Yankees inevitably open roster spots, the tough decisions will likely come down to the pitching staff. Right now, the Yankees have 23 pitchers, 12 of which are not going to be non-tendered or designated for assignment.
- Veterans with obvious roles to play
CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Dellin Betances, Tyler Clippard, Adam Warren
- Young pitchers with safe roster spots
Luis Severino, Luis Cessa, Bryan Mitchell, Chad Green, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder
Some of those pitchers could be traded, but they’re not going to be cut loose simply to open a roster spot. Maybe you’d like to non-tender Pineda, but the price of pitching makes that highly unlikely. He’s been inconsistent, and he’s due a pretty big arbitration raise, but he’s still a safe bet to come back.
That leaves 11 pitchers to choose from to open roster spots. The Yankees will eventually have to pick and choose through this group to decide who they need for next season, and who has a roster spot best used for someone else:
---
The non-tender candidate
Nathan Eovaldi
This is probably the easiest move of the bunch. With Eovaldi shut down because of Tommy John surgery, there's really no reason to keep him through one last year of arbitration eligibility. There's an argument to made for signing him to some sort of two-year deal -- basically buy low on 2018 while helping Eovaldi rehab through 2017 -- but one way or another, Eovaldi's roster spot will surely end up with someone else's name. That's one spot.
---
The unlikely left-handers
Tommy Layne, Richard Bleier
Who would have guessed these two would be in the conversation for a 40-man spot throughout the winter and into next year? Layne was released mid-season, and the Yankees picked up off the scrape heap. Bleier was a minor league free agent who'd never even been to big league camp until the Yankees gave him an invitation. They pitched very well, though. Layne was a go-to left-on-left weapon down the stretch and had a 1.06 WHIP. Bleier's 1.04 WHIP was the lowest on the team other than Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, and he held lefties to a .409 OPS. The Yankees suddenly look pretty thin again from the left side. If they aren't going to add anyone for the specialist role, these might be the Yankees' best options; better than some of the younger and more highly touted lefties.
---
The shuttle relievers
Nick Goody, Chasen Shreve, James Pazos, Johnny Barbato
In some ways, these four have had their opportunity to solidify a role in the big leagues. Shreve has come the closest to doing so, but he ran into problems this season (and at the end of last season). Goody was excellent in May (0.97 WHIP) but awful in June (1.75 WHIP). Pazos has pitched well in the minors, but he's had trouble with left-on-left opportunities the past two Septembers. The fact Barbato didn't get a September call-up suggests he could be one of the first to go this offseason, but it's more difficult to prioritize the other three.
---
The elbow injuries
Nick Rumbelow, Branden Pinder, Jacob Lindgren, Conor Mullee
In recent years, we've seen the Yankees clear roster spots by releasing and re-signing minor league players who were coming back from injuries. In those situations, though -- David Adams, Slade Heathcott, Vicente Campos -- the player in question had no big league time, which likely made them easier to lure back. These four have upper-level success and big league time, and it might not be so easy to pull the release/re-sign trick with any one of them. Lindgren is the only one who's likely lost for all of next year, but he's also the most highly touted of the bunch. Mullee is the least established, but he's the only one with a good chance to be 100 percent in spring training.
---
How many can the Yankees keep? Depends on how many moves they make. In recent years we’ve seen them trade Shawn Kelley and Jose Pirela in moves that opened roster spots, and they could do something similar with guys like Refsnyder or Romine. Bigger trades could also open spots.
But eventually, the Yankees surely are going to sign a free agent or two – some of those closers are particularly enticing – and they have a long list of worthwhile Rule 5 candidates to consider for protection. That group includes Dietrich Enns, Tyler Webb, Jorge Mateo, Miguel Andujar and Giovanny Gallegos (each of whom stands out a realistic candidate to be selected if not protected).
At some point, 40-man roster spots are going to have to open, and the Yankees are going to be forced to choose who stays and who goes.