The New York Yankees had a real problem this year that they definitely thought wouldn’t be: their Super Bullpen wasn’t all that super. They had a lot of games where Max Fried or Carlos Rodon put on a clinic, and then their bullpen would blow the game.
One example is Devin Williams. An All-Star closer, and yet he had his worst year ever with the Yankees. Now, he’s going to be a free agent, and New York should possibly think about getting another closer. Fansided’s Christopher Kline believes the Yanks should go out and make a blockbuster trade for All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase.
The trade would look like this:
New York Yankees receive: Emmanuel Clase
Cleveland Guardians receive: RHP Bryce Cunningham, 1B T.J. Rumfield, OF Brendan Jones
“Clase is under club control at an affordable rate through 2028, so the Yankees would inherit a shutdown closer with four more years of top-shelf production on the horizon. New York's bullpen remains a huge point of emphasis this offseason, even after a frenzied barrage of trade deadline additions. Devin Williams is a free agent. David Bednar is a sturdy closer in his own right, but he'd look a heck of a lot better as the setup man for Clase, who gets a ton of chases and soft contact with his upper-90s cutter and a slider that sweeps through the zone like something straight out of Fruit Ninja,” Kline wrote.
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This season, Clase played in 48 games and posted a 3.23 ERA with 47 Ks and a WHIP of 1.225. However the season before, the two-time Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year had a 0.61 ERA with 66 Ks and a WHIP of 0.659 in 66 games, and was also third place for the AL Cy Young.
If the Yankees can make this happen, they should do it. Getting a closer like Clase will definitely help make sure they can’t blow a game without really trying to.
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