New York Yankees Looking to Add Ernesto Frieri
By Jason Evans
The New York Yankees are adding veteran reliever Ernesto Frieri to the bullpen mix.
A big part of the New York Yankees success this season is going to be their bullpen. They brought back Aroldis Chapman to go with Dellin Betances and Tyler Clippard. They have other options like Adam Warren and some younger arms like Jonathan Holder and Ben Heller. The Yankees love to shuttle relievers in and out between Scranton and the Bronx. It appears they are adding another veteran right-handed reliever to their corps.
Ernesto Frieri, who hasn't pitched in majors since 2015, said he hasn't officially signed with the Yankees. "Hopefully, tomorrow, he said.
— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES) March 15, 2017
Frieri pitched two scoreless innings for Colombia in the WBC. He's a strikeout pitcher, averaging 11.6 per 9 innings in career.
— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYES) March 15, 2017
The 31 year old hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015 when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Frieri is a guy with some back of the bullpen experience. He saved 37 games as the closer for the Los Angeles Angels back in 2013.
Teams can never have enough bullpen depth. The lack of innings starters tend to give now, you have to have a deep bullpen. The Royals proved how important that can be back in 2014 and 2015.
For the Yankees, their starting rotation is full of question marks. Can Masahiro Tanaka stay healthy. What can CC Sabathia give them? Which Michael Pineda is going to take the mound that day? Can Luis Cessa, Luis Severino and/or Chad Green emerge as a capable major league starter?
The Yankees starters may go five and dive a lot and they can’t afford to burn out their bullpen arms, so they are going to need that depth.
Even if Frieri starts in AAA and proves he’s back to where he was a couple of years ago and then gets called up to the majors, that can still be a valuable piece as you go through the six month grind of a season.
It’s also an example of how if you are a free agent and get to participate in the World Baseball Classic it may end up being to your benefit and how we may see other players who are free agents who played in the WBC get an opportunity with a major league club.