The New York Yankees continue to bulk up their Super Bullpen heading into spring training. The Bronx Bombers signed former Reds’ and Twins’ reliever Jared Burton to a minor league deal according to the Yes Network. Where Burton fits in to the Yankees plans is a bit unclear, but he will be in spring training pitching for a role in the bullpen.
The 6 foot 5, 225 pound righty was drafted in the eighth round by the Oakland Athletics in 2002. He was left unprotected after his five year stint climbing the Oakland As minor league system as a closer and became a Rule 5 Draft selection of the Cincinnati Reds in 2006. He made his big league debut the following season at age 26. It was a rocky debut as Burton went 4-2 with a 2.51 ERA, yet blew all three save opportunities along the way.
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Burton would suffer a shoulder injury that would alter his career with the Reds. He was able to rebound and become a valuable and steady bullpen fixture over the next three seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He is able to log innings (hurling more than 62 in each of the past three seasons), but at 33 he is coming off one of his worst seasons in some time. Burton finished 2014 at 3-5 with a 4.36 ERA (his worst since 2009) and a 6.5 strikeout per nine rate, the worst of his career. He was able to lock down three saves in four chances, so Burton brings the experience of a middle reliever with the know-how to close in a pinch. Throughout the course of his eight year career, Burton is 18-19 with a 3.44 ERA and 10 saves in 15 opportunities. He’s racked up a 7.6 strikeout per nine ratio and a 1.24 WHIP.
Burton was never known much for his fastball which was always in the low-90s, however, it has dropped from around 93 to right around 91 over the past few seasons. Burton’s signature pitch has always been what FanGraphs calls his “splangeup”, a splitter-changeup hybrid. As he has gotten older, he has relied more heavily upon the pitch.
The Yankees have done a lot of work on their bullpen this offseason. They have brought in established major league arms like Andrew Miller and Justin Wilson, and have traded for some promising prospects, such as Chasen Shreve. Burton has an uphill battle, but should he not break camp, he will provide valuable depth to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders bullpen with promising arms like Nick Rumbelow and Tyler Webb inching closer to big league action.
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