Yankees Bullpen Bolstered

Pitching wins championships. That's one of the oldest sayings in all off baseball. A huge key to that is the bullpen. You need solid relief pitching, especially come playoff time. Some considered that a minor weakness of the New York Yankees near the end of last season, an issue that the team had hoped to correct in the offseason. It looks like they may have done that, and in spades, this winter. New York went from a good pen to one that could be great.

New York got its newest weapon in the Pen on Thursday, adding Adam Ottavino on a 3 year deal worth $27 Million. Ottavino was 6-4 with a 2.43 ERA and 0.991 WHIP in 77 2/3 innings last season with the Colorado Rockies. The 33-year-old native New Yorker has a career 3.68 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in eight seasons in the majors. Pretty solid numbers for a guy that's been around as long as he has. Add a guy of his caliber to a pen that already has Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zach Britton and Chad Green. That right there has to send shivers down the spines of opposing hitters. With Ottavino now in the mix in the Pen, the Yankees have spent $44.25 million on their top four relievers. Oh yeah, this is coming with David Robertson leaving for the Phillies.

There has been a big need for bullpen help and rightfully so. When you sit back and look at the starting rotation as a whole, here's what you get. CC Sabathia is coming off a heart scare and knee issues, which leaves one to worry. Then there's newly acquired James Paxton, who is a good pitcher yes, but he's never pitched more than the 160 ¹/₃ innings he tossed a year ago. Then there's Luis Severino, who while the ace of the staff last season, seemed to drop off after the all star break. Finally, you'd have to worry about Masahiro Tanaka and his partially torn UCL.

Oh and just a reminder, the Yankees are still trying to move Sonny Gray.

Adding a guy like Ottavino to this pen, makes it even more dangerous and shortens a game by that much. Sure, the pen may not be spot on every single night, but they are good enough when they're on their game to make up for starters who have an off night. New York got a new weapon out of the pen and got that much stronger. This could be a very good year in the Bronx, and knowing the Yankees, they might not be done just yet.