For the New York Yankees, securing the services of Zack Britton for the next two seasons was a slam dunk. A sure thing, a needed development. After all, how many relievers can pitch seven seasons with the highest ERA being 3.10? Not too many, right? The left-hander has been the model of consistency not only since he came to the Bronx, but ever since he made the transition to the bullpen back in 2014, when he was with the Baltimore Orioles.
In 2020, he was one of only three relief pitchers that New York Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone could trust at all times, alongside Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman. He pitched 19.0 innings of a 1.89 ERA and a 2.61 FIP, with a 3.38 SIERA. When Chapman was out with a bout of COVID-19, Britton filled in admirably as the team’s closer.
Britton didn’t take his return for granted, according to what he said to SNY and YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits. He knew that there were a couple of financial/contractual situations in play that could result in the Yankees moving on.
He’s excited to stay with the Yankees
“There definitely was (a doubt), due to, obviously, financial situations that teams are in, for what they’re saying and, yeah, I didn’t know. Me and my agent, Scott Boras, we really didn’t discuss in great length what was going to happen if they didn’t and what we were going to do in regards to free agency and things like that. So it was nice, obviously, to get that call from (Brian Cashman) talking about it. Obviously, I’m excited to stay in New York for the next two years and hopefully win a championship is the reason why I came here in the first place. So to have two more years to kind of realize that goal would be nice.â€
For the Yankees, winning that championship has been a difficult task since 2009, the last World Series’ parade. But Britton is determined to bring the glory back to the Bronx.
The Yankees needed to exercise Britton’s 2022 $14 million option, or he could have entered the free agent market. They did it and, in the process, they secured services for the next two years.