Matt Blake is staying with the Yankees. I’d give him a bullpen that makes it possible to use Brent Headrick when the game calls for him, instead of when the rest of the bullpen runs out of answers. That should be part of the shopping list even if David Bednar returns.
Brian Cashman called the bullpen his “main priority” on MLB Network Radio, as Bryan Hoch reported Friday. Bednar and Paul Blackburn are free agents. Hoch also reported that Blake and assistants Preston Claiborne and Desi Druschel are staying. New York has continuity in the pitching room. It doesn’t have the same certainty about who gets the last six outs.
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Headrick made 81 appearances, the most in the majors, with a 2.18 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings. He gave the Yankees a strikeout arm from the left side with enough volume to cover close games regularly. When a pitcher appears in half the schedule, though, the simplest way to plan for the next season is to find a second arm you trust in the same spots. Writing 81 games in pencil next to his name isn’t a depth chart.
I’d make one signing with a broad job description: a reliever who can come in with a runner on, retire hitters from either side, and stay in when the next pocket of the order flips. Look at strikeouts and walks against both sides before getting distracted by the save total. If he gets most of his outs when he begins with the bases empty, ask why. The person New York needs might have closed games somewhere else or might have hardly any saves at all.
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Imagine a one-run game with the best three opposing hitters due in the seventh. Bednar coming back would give Boone a ninth-inning choice, but somebody still has to handle the dangerous part of the order. If Headrick worked the previous two nights, the manager should have a choice that doesn’t require the pitching coach to cross his fingers. A credible second option also lets the Yankees use Headrick earlier when the matchup is better.
The alternative is to spend heavily on a closer and try to find the rest in camp. I can see the argument if Bednar leaves and an elite closer is available at the right price. I’d still reserve money and a roster spot for a pitcher who can get an out with traffic before the ninth. The club doesn’t have to pay two closer salaries to do it, but it shouldn’t assume Blake can turn every cheap pickup into a late-inning arm by March.
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Appearance totals don’t prove Headrick was overused, and they don’t tell us how he’ll feel next spring. They tell us how often the club needed him. If the Yankees want to get the same value from him again, start by giving Blake and Boone a night when they can win a one-run game without him.
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