With the New York Yankees signing relief pitcher Adam Ottavino to a three-year, $27 million offer sheet, the Bombers have solidified what might now be the league’s most daunting bullpen.
Retaining Zach Britton several weeks ago was the first move in building a deep pitching rotation, and with David Robertson departing to the Phillies to act as their primary closer, there was one spot left fr the taking.
A surprising signing by the Yankees:
With rumors of general manager Brian Cashman playing hop-scotch with Manny Machado, the idea of signing Ottavino slipped out the back door. Clearly, it was on the agenda the entire time, and Cashman played the market and the media perfectly.
A stroke of genius:
Signing one of the best relief pitchers on the market for under $30 million was masterful negotiating by Cashman. Now, the bullpen looks like this — Britton, Ottavino, Dellin Batances, and Aroldis Chapman.
Combined, they present a 2.67 ERA with various sets of skills to present to different teams/hitters. They have speed, curve-balls, sliders, you name it and the Yankees got it.
At 33 years-old, Ottavino is surely on the older side when compared to the rest of the relief pitchers who are all between 30-31. His veteran leadership and experience will be beneficial and a positive influence for some of the younger guys on the roster. In addition to his leadership, Ottavino is stellar at keeping the ball inside the part, as he allowed just 5 homers in 77.2 innings last season.
One thing that the group has excelled in is striking out batters, as they combined for a 354 strikeouts in 234 innings. That’s an average of over 1.5 strikeouts per-inning. A tandem as talented as this could be exactly what the Yankees need to take their team to the next level in the season ahead.
On the offensive side of things:
Scoring runs was not an issue when it came to the Yankees’ bats, despite having several significant players go cold for a majority of the season. If they can all hit consistently and avoid long bad-spells, the Yanks could once again be one of the most deadly teams in baseball.