The Yankees and the right hand Walker Buehler they had a “common interest” in each other, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. New York joins the Braves and Athletics as teams that have already been publicly linked to Buehler in the first few weeks of free agency.
An added downside to the Yankees’ pursuit, of course, is that Buehler delivered some of the best moments of his career against the Bronx Bombers during this year’s World Series. Buehler threw five shutout innings in the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 3, and followed that strong start with a scoreless ninth inning of Game 5, as Buehler threw the final shutout pitches. the Dodgers’ championship.
That clutch performance (and four more innings of shutout ball against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLCS) helped bring a happy ending to an otherwise difficult season for the 30-year-old righty. Buehler missed all of 2023 recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, and returned to post a 5.38 ERA over 16 starts and 75 1/3 innings in Los Angeles during the regular season. Almost all of Buehler’s secondary numbers and metrics were below his career norms, including an 18.6% strikeout rate that ranked only in the 16th percentile of all pitchers.
It’s rare for any pitcher coming back from the TJ process to start against major league hitters, though Buehler has the added burden of both his 2022 surgery and the surgery he underwent immediately after being drafted by the Dodgers in 2015. Nathan Eovaldi again Daniel Hudson are two of the most prominent examples of pitchers who have continued to be successful after returning from two Tommy John surgeries, but there is clearly some risk attached to Buehler going forward, even if you’re looking at it clearly.
MLBTR predicted that Buehler will sign a one-year, $15MM deal this offseason, citing that he will seek a cushion contract through 2025 and quickly return to the market next winter after (hopefully) posting front-of-the-rotation numbers. . Any number of teams could fit Buehler on such a short-term deal, even if they’d prefer to draft a contender.
New York fits that description, and the Yankees are at least keeping an eye on the free agent pitching market given reports indicating their interest in him. Corbin Burns, Fried Max, Blake Snellagain Sean Manaea. The Bombers have the resources to extensively evaluate basically any free agent for at least due diligence, and the impression is that the club is prioritizing a re-signing. Juan Soto before any other big-ticket business in the off-season.
Signing Buehler to a one-year deal may not seem like a “big ticket” deal compared to other top hitters who will command huge multi-year deals. Any addition to the rotation, however, would prove to be a necessary trade since the Yankees already have six rotation players on the Yankees roster. Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clark Schmidt, Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stromanand the reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil. Cortes or Stroman are the ones they would be willing to trade if New York were to add another starter, and the move would allow the Yankees to address other needs in the lineup or bullpen.
Source link
