Tender day has come and gone in Major League Baseball. The New York Yankees ended up deciding to tender Gary Sanchez a contract yesterday which was the biggest question mark around the ballclub yesterday.
However, the Yankees did non-tender one player. That player would be reliever Jonathan Holder. Holder has been very up and down for the Yankees during his tenure with the ballclub. With Holder out of the picture, the Yankees have a spot open in their bullpen.
During tender day, we saw a lot of quality players get released. More than normal due to the amount of money that teams lost last year due to the pandemic shortened season. One of those players was reliever, Archie Bradley.
Bradley was non-tendered by the Reds yesterday making him a free agent. Archie Bradley is a very good reliever. Over the past few years with Arizona and Cincinnati he’s been terrific never having an ERA above 4.
Since 2017, Bradley has posted the following ERAs: 1.73, 3.64, 3.52, 2.95. He’s a reliever that the Yankees have actually been interested in before. At the trade deadline of 2019, the Yankees made an attempt to acquire Bradley and Robbie Ray from Arizona.
Will the Yankees make the move?
The Yankees have been interested in Archie Bradley before. There’s a lot to like about Bradley as a reliever and he would be a welcomed addition to the stable that the Yankees are putting together.
Right now, the bombers focus remains on resigning DJ LeMahieu. That is their priority number one. While their rotation is still in question, it doesn’t appear that the team is poised to make a big splash for a starting pitcher this offseason.
That being said, I can see them trying to upgrade the bullpen a little. Non-tendering Jonathan Holder is a part of that plan for the New York Yankees. If you can replace Holder with Archie Bradley, you’ve hit a home run.
Now, with the importance of good arms in the bullpen, Bradley is going to have a number of suitors. He’s not going to come cheap for whoever signs him. That said, the Yankees let Holder go and Tommy Kahnle is gone. There is room for Bradley in the Bronx bullpen.
Of course, the Yankees could use internal options in order to save a little more money. That is entirely possible, however, don’t be shocked if you start to hear the Yankees tied to the free agency of Archie Bradley.