The New York Yankees need to go out and get a left-handed reliever at the trade deadline, and Andrew Chafin could prove to be one of their best options. With the Detroit Tigers looking to sell, the veteran southpaw has the swing-and-miss stuff to aid any bullpen alongside getting a club option for the 2025 season that would reasonably be picked up if he keeps up this kind of production. Alongside a shift to using his slider more often, Chafin can give this bullpen everything it desperately needs right now.
He’s not a sexy name nor does he have the overpowering velocity you would expect for a dominant reliever, but the Yankees should show plenty of interest in Andrew Chafin.
Andrew Chafin Can Give the Yankees’ Bullpen a Massive Boost
Targeting left-handers who can rack up strikeouts is exactly what the Yankees should be doing, and Andrew Chafin has done just that this season. He has a 3.16 ERA and 30.9% strikeout rate on the season with the numbers getting better as the season has gone on. What we’ve seen is the slider usage increase over the last few weeks, as over his last 17 games he’s used his slider 53% of the time compared to a 42.3% usage rate in his first 24 games, and the results have been staggering.
Over that 17-game stretch, he has a 0.56 ERA and 42.6% strikeout rate, and that’s completely turned around his season (and potentially his career). The Tigers are most certainly shopping him at the trade deadline, especially given how crazy the pitching market has gotten after the Phillies traded George Klassen for Carlos Estevez and the Padres traded Dylan Lesko for Jason Adam. It’s going to be difficult for the Yankees to make moves for their bullpen, but Chafin can perfectly boost this unit.
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Not only has the bullpen struggled, but they have really struggled from the left-handed side, and they need help there desperately. Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes are strong reliever options, perhaps guys like Tim Hill, Michael Tonkin, and Jake Cousins can continue their weird resurgences, and guys like Scott Effross should be back at some point soon, so adding even one or two relievers can change the entire outlook of the bullpen. Andrew Chafin is a great veteran option who has some closing experience as well, and he can help in a pinch if they need him to step up in the ninth.
The Stuff+ metrics aren’t great, but his command and the excellent breaking ball allow him to miss bats at a high clip, and the club option for 2025 is cheap as well. We could see New York land an arm that provides value for this year and next year at a low cost, and he could fill the void left by Wandy Peralta that the team has so desperately tried to fill all season. Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez have been duds, and landing a left-handed reliever is on their priority list as they’ve shown a ton of interest in Tanner Scott of the Marlins among others.