There were rumors speculating that the New York Yankees were interested in making a trade with the Oakland Athletics to acquire reliever Blake Treinen. However, he was non-tendered before a trade could happen, making him a free agent.
This is great news for the Yankees. They can pursue him without giving anything up in a trade.
Treinen had a down year in 2019, having a 6-5 record with an ERA close to five over 58.2 innings. In 2018, he was an all-star with a 9-2 record a sub-one ERA. Yes, you read that right.
He was in the closer role for the Athletics, but he would likely start off as a high leverage middle reliever if the Yankees signed him.
I think that the Yankees need to go out and sign him right away. Yes, he had a bad year in 2019, but he has a sub-three career ERA. The team is also lacking depth in middle relief, and he would help fill that hole.
They should offer Treinen no more than seven million dollars per year for no more than three years since he is coming off a poor season and is now 31 years old. Once you hit 30, the likelihood a team will invest significant dollars into an individual decreases.
If they were to sign Treinen soon, they could begin to really shift their focus on signing Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg. The team will be meeting with both pitchers this week to continue the recruiting process.
Other top free-agent Anthony Rendon seems likely to go to either the Rangers, Dodgers, or return to the Nationals (per Buster Olney).
The Yankees need to take advantage of Blake Treinen being on the open market and sign him immediately.