Yankees lose another reliever to the Athletics on $3 million deal

It feels like the Yankees are finally cleaning out the junk drawer in the bullpen, and nobody should be shedding a tear over the latest departure.

Mark Leiter Jr., a pitcher who induced more anxiety than ground balls during his tenure in the Bronx, has officially signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Oakland Athletics. While losing depth is rarely celebrated, watching a 34-year-old reliever with an ERA nearing 5.00 head to the West Coast feels less like a loss and more like a necessary correction.

Leiter Jr. was supposed to be a swing-and-miss weapon when acquired from the Cubs in 2024, but he quickly morphed into a liability who couldn’t be trusted in high-leverage spots. He posted a 4.98 ERA immediately after the trade and followed it up with a lackluster 4.84 ERA over 48.1 innings in 2025, proving that his strikeout numbers were often fool’s gold.

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Addition by Subtraction in the Bullpen

The narrative of this offseason has been about the arms leaving town, specifically with Devin Williams signing across town with the Mets.

However, reports suggest the Yankees are relieved they avoided a $51 million deal for their star closer, preferring to reallocate those funds elsewhere rather than dealing with the headaches Williams brought. Leiter Jr. falls into a similar category of “volatile assets” that Brian Cashman seems eager to purge from the roster.

While Leiter Jr. could rack up strikeouts with his splitter, his inability to strand runners or escape jams without inflicting damage became a recurring nightmare for manager Aaron Boone.

In a bullpen that relies on precision and composure, having a reliever who consistently creates traffic on the basepaths is a recipe for disaster. Oakland offers him a low-pressure environment to rebuild his value, something the Bronx simply couldn’t provide anymore.

The Search for Stability Over “Stuff”

The Yankees are clearly pivoting toward stability, prioritizing pitchers who can get outs without the drama. This philosophy explains why they might take a chance on a former Guardians farmhand on a minor league deal rather than overpaying for veteran retreads who have already shown their ceiling. Finding reliable middle relief is an unsexy art form, but it is often the difference between winning the division and sweating out the Wild Card.

Letting Leiter Jr. walk is only a smart move if Cashman actually replaces those innings with competence. You can’t just subtract volatility; you have to add reliability, or you end up burning out your high-leverage arms by August. The market is still flush with affordable options who can offer sub-4.00 ERAs, and the Yankees need to find a few of them to ensure the bridge to the ninth inning doesn’t collapse.

Looking Ahead: Cashman Needs to Fill the Void

Ultimately, Mark Leiter Jr.’s time in pinstripes will be remembered as a failed experiment in chasing strikeout rates over results.

The Yankees are right to let him go, but the pressure is now on the front office to prove they can identify better targets to fill the innings he leaves behind. The bullpen is leaner today than it was yesterday, and while the dead weight is gone, the heavy lifting of rebuilding the unit has barely begun.