The New York Yankees are at the forefront of reliever rumours that have them connected to one of their own former arms.
According to Andy Martino of Sportsnet New York, the New York Yankees are potentially looking to re-sign right-handed reliever David Robertson, also adding that they’re continuing to look at former Colorado Rockie Adam Ottavino for their bullpen. In addition, the Boston Red Sox are, according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman, also looking at Robertson and Ottavino.
Martino concludes by adding that the now surprisingly competitive New York Mets also have Ottavino and Robertson on their radar, totaling three clubs that have been rumoured to be connected to the pair of bullpen arms.
Robertson, 33, spent 2018 with the Yankees after a brief stint with the Chicago White Sox that came after his first (longer) stint in the Bronx. In 2018, he pitched to a 3.23 ERA over 69.2 innings, striking out 91 and walking just 26. He tallied ERAs of 1.84, 3.47, 3.41, 3.08, and 2.04 in the last five seasons.
Known as one of the more prolific relievers of the last ten years, his 137 career saves place him 13th among active players, with his 654 games played placing him 10th among active pitchers, just one game behind Santiago Casilla.
It’s admittedly not overly surprising that the Yankees are looking to bring back Robertson, who last season was worth 1.0 WAR, eighth among Yankee pitchers. He did, however, make a relatively steep $13 million.
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has speculatively estimated that he’d receive a three-year deal worth $33 million. They also, interestingly enough, predicated that he’d land with the Mets, and also added that the aforementioned Ottavino represents perhaps his greatest competition on the relief market.
Ottavino, 33, was predicted on the same list to sign with the New York Yankees for a similar three-year deal worth $30 million. All in all, those are strikingly similar contracts, both with the New York clubs. Of course, these are just predictions. Still it’s interesting to look and see what others are predicting.
Robertson has also been connected to “6-8 teams”, including the Dodgers, Red Sox, and the Mets, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Ottavino hasn’t, at least of this writing, been connected to any teams outside of the Yanks, Sox, and Mets.
That duo of bullpen arms, while not really related in any concrete way, could set the market for relievers as general managers from all around baseball meet to discuss signings, trades, and other various transactions. While it’s no sure thing that both of them will sign by the end of the week, the market for their services is clearly heating up in a hurry.