NY bullpen 2020

jon abbey

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OK, with Blake Treinen (maybe the best reliever in MLB in 2018, not good in 2017 or 2019) non-tendered today, there are rumors that NY is interested, although if they were willing to pay him his (approximate) $7.8M arb salary, they could have gotten him for a warm body, so I strongly doubt there is much to those rumors. This is the time of year that people repeat rumors but rarely examine how those rumored players might actually fit on the potential new team, so I thought it was a good time to start a bullpen thread, complete with years of control and options remaining, starting with Chapman.

Chapman (3 years, no options)
Britton (he has an unusual contract where NY decides after the 2020 season if they will exercise the $14M 2022 option. If NY decides not to, Britton can either opt for FA or stay with NY for $13M for 2021 before becoming a FA. He is out of options.)
Ottavino (2 years, no options)
Kahnle (2 years, no options)
Green (3 years, 1 option)

So those five are locks, and with the new 26 man rosters, NY will certainly carry 8 relievers most of the season. So there are three more spots, let's say two long guys and one more short guy. These are the other relievers currently on the 40 man.

Cessa (4 years, no options)
Loaisiga (5 years, 1 option)
Heller (4 years, 2 options)
Holder (4 years, 1 option)
Adams (6 years, 1 option)
Tarpley (6 years, 2 options)
Kriske (6 years, 3 options)

So looking at that, I do think that NY has the space to bring in a sixth short guy if they decide that is the way to go, but then they probably have to move Cessa because otherwise 7 of the 8 spots will be filled by guys without options (Green does have one, but unless he is awful again, I don't think he would be a shuttle candidate).

So for the last three spots as of now, I'd guess NY goes Cessa/Loaisiga/Heller (if they don't add anyone) or Loaisiga/Adams as the long guys plus Betances or Treinen or Hader (might as well dream big, and he is available). My guess is that extending Chapman was NY's only move to strengthen the bullpen this winter, they have five studs and plenty of other guys behind them eager for their chances (I didn't include any of the young SPs on the 40 man or any of the relievers not on the 40 man either, especially since some of the latter could get taken in the rule 5 draft next week).
 

jon abbey

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Oh, Jordan Montgomery is another potential long guy if he is bumped out of the rotation and he has two options left, so that helps with flexibility.
 

jon abbey

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Betances and Treinen both off the market now, NY still supposedly hard in pursuit of Hader but if they don't get him, Heller is probably the frontrunner for the sixth short man slot, Holder and Tarpley in there too if they survive the roster crunch.
 

jon abbey

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Bumping this...

NY has now dumped Cortes Jr, Adams and Tarpley from last year's bullpen options, plus Betances is of course gone. I count only 10 relievers currently on the 40 man (and that includes Loaisiga who theoretically they could still want to start), which made me think that NY must have some guys they like who are not on the 40 man yet but they think could serve as depth if needed. I have the 8 man bullpen currently at:

Loaisiga
Cessa
Heller
Green
Ottavino
Kahnle
Britton
Chapman

Holder and Kriske the only other two on the 40 man, so a few other names to keep an eye on...

Kaleb Ort (turns 28 in February), a righty with 51 Ks in 33 innings in AAA last year.
Trevor Lane (turns 26 in April), a lefty with a 1.99 ERA in 68 innings in AA last year.
David Sosebee (turns 27 in August), a righty with 59 Ks in 48 innings in AAA last year.
Daniel Alvarez (turns 24 in June), a righty converted SP with 76 Ks in 59 innings in AA last year and a 2.31 ERA.

Kriske is the one I'm really curious about as he's the one of all those guys that they chose to protect from the rule 5 draft, but these guys are not far behind on the depth chart right now.
 

Murderer's Crow

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Garden City
Bullpen is plenty fine to give some guys tryouts through the deadline. I may still prioritize a lefty bat before grabbing another pen arm.
 

jon abbey

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Bumping because of how good the back of NY’s bullpen has been so far, through 11 games with no Chapman and with Kahnle gone, 17 scoreless combined from these three:

Britton 5 1 0 0 1 4
Green 8 1 0 0 1 11
Ottavino 4 3 0 0 1 2

Chad Green, wow!
 

Brand Name

make hers mark
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Moving the Line
I’ve taken to calling this group ABC (Adam, Britton, Chad) 123, like the Jackson 5 lyric.

An imperfect measure to be sure given a given team’s game quantity, not to mention leverage, but the Yankees are actually tied with the fourth fewest (Cincinnati) bullpen appearances of 3+ batters faced but 0 ERs, with 17; 10/17 are ABC.

Just to ensure opportunities exist within games, I checked number of starts with 5+ IP, where they’re tied for 22nd (Tampa, Milwaukee) at 4. Given the roster sizes to this point in the season, I wonder how much of this stems from a case of organizational philosophy, since it feels like postseason-esque hooks have been the norm from Boone this summer.

I’m probably reading into this too much, and a lot of it is assuaged when you presumably get additional depth like Chapman back. Pipe dreaming, Schmidt/Abreu/Andujar/Frazier for Hader/Lemons (as PTBNL, hope he eventually develops into his 6’6” frame) would be incredible, and is equal value by the trade value calculator.