Archie Bradley

New York Yankees News/Rumors: No that’s not CC Sabathia, is it a tease from RHP Archie Bradley?

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So far, things have been pretty quiet for the New York Yankees during the virtual Winter Meetings. The Yankees primarily wants during the meetings is pitching help. General manager Brian Cashman frequently goes into these meetings pessimistic but seldom leaves empty-handed. With their main priority re-signing DJ LeMahieu, it is somewhat unlikely you will see much action before that deal has competed if a deal can be done.

The New York Yankees lost three pitchers to free-agency and need starting pitching, at least one number two or three starter. But in the background, they also need bullpen help. The Yankees are in the worst shape for relief hands than they have been for years, with the exit of Tommy Kahnle to Tommy John surgery and the unsure play of Adam Ottavino. Recently I said that Archie Bradley would be a great addition to the bullpen who could eat up middle innings.

Interesting and intriguing is that Bradley, a free agent relief pitcher, posted this photo of himself wearing a CC Sabathia Yankees jersey that accompanies this article. That might make New York Yankee fan thinks that there may be some talks going on.

Archie Bradley, 28, RHP

The release of Archie Bradley, a right-hand pitcher, is probably the most interesting to the New York Yankees. The Yankees need to patch up a bullpen that will be missing Tommy Kahnle, who will be out with Tommy John surgery and the recent failings of Adam Ottavino.

Bradley is no ace, but he is a middle inning reliever that can eat up a few innings when in need. Bradley has lost some of the velocity from his fastball but has developed a very puzzling changeup to make up for it. Bradley is the kind of pitcher who can eat up to 100 innings a season. He is not a Liam Hendriks or a Brad Hand, but at a salary around $5 million, he might be of interest to the Yankees.

Bradley is a 28-year-old 6′ 4″ 215-pound right-hand pitcher that has been primarily with the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2015. He pitched for both Arizona and Cincinnati Reds in the 2020 season. He went 2-0 with an ERA of just 2.95 in 18.1 innings between the two teams.

EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam.

New York Yankees News/Rumors: Do the Yankees have any use for these non-tendered players?

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New York Yankees, Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs

December 2, was the deadline for the New York Yankees and all the other major league teams to tender arbitration-eligible players an offer to play in the 2021 baseball season. The Yankees chose to tender catcher Gary Sanchez, Luis Cessa, and Ben Heller. They did not offer a contract to Jonathan Holder who is now a free agent.

The Yankees as well as all the other teams chose what players they would let walk, some were a bit surprising. Among those are

David Dahl, 27, OF

Dahl’s non-tender was the biggest surprise of Wednesday’s bunch of non-tender releases, as he was an All-Star in 2019 and was due to make under $3 million in arbitration. His 2020 was a disaster, but it’s a tiny sample and he was injured for part of the season … although injuries are a huge part of his professional history. He missed nearly all of 2013 and 2017 due to injuries, and about half of 2015 and 2018. Those are good reasons not to sign him to a long-term deal, but for one year, he’s got the power and ability to play an average center field. If the Yankees don’t sign Brett Gardner to another year, they don’t have a legitimate centerfield backup. Dahl is one of the highest-ranking non-tenders on the list.

Kyle Schwarber, 28, OF

The release of Kyle Schwarber is almost laughable. The Yankees have been interested in Schwarber for several seasons. Now that he is available for the cheap they really don’t have much use for him. The left field at Yankee Stadium is pretty well full up with Clint Frazier, Mike Tauchman, Brett Gardner if they bring him back, and even Giancarlo Stanton in a pinch.

Archie Bradley, 28, RHP

The release of Archie Bradley a right-hand pitcher is probably the most interesting to the New York Yankees. The Yankees need to patch up a bullpen that will be missing Tommy Kahnle who will be out with Tommy John surgery and the recent failings of Adam Ottavino.

Bradley is no ace but he is a middle inning reliever that can eat up a few innings when in need. Bradley has lost some of the velocity from his fastball but has developed a very puzzling changeup to make up for it. Bradley is the kind of pitcher who can eat up to 100 innings a season. He is not a Liam Hendriks or a Brad Hand but at a salary around $5 million, he might be of interest to the Yankees.

Bradley is a 28-year-old 6′ 4″ 215-pound right-hand pitcher that has been primarily with the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2015. He pitched for both Arizona and Cincinnati Reds in the 2020 season. Between the two teams, he went 2-0 with an ERA of just 2.95 in 18.1 innings.

 

 

Yankees news/rumors: Archie Bradley makes perfect sense, Gary Sanchez disappoints in Winter League

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New York Yankees, Archie Bradley

The New York Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher, but all the better options continue to be plucked in free agency.

Nonetheless, the Yankees need to replace James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, and JA Happ. It seems as if they are taking their time in the process, looking for the perfect fit and trying to save as much money as possible.

General manager Brian Cashman isn’t used to having a cap to his spending, something he will have this off-season — keeping the team under the $210 luxury tax threshold is the goal.

Nonetheless, one name that represents a potential upgrade is reliever Archie Bradley. Kicking the tires on him would make a lot of sense for the bombers, and while he only pitched 18.1 and then this past season, he recorded 2.9 5 ERA with a 39.2% ground ball right. The sample size is simply too small to consider, so let’s take a look at his 2019 statistics for a better idea of what he brings.

Bradley pitched 71.2 innings in 200019/66 games. He recorded a 3.52 ERA, 45.2% ground ball rate, 10.93 strikeouts per nine, and 87 strikeouts in total (Fangraphs).

The Diamondback had a solid 2019 campaign, and the Yankees might want to consider bringing him in after losing Tommy Kahnle to Tommy John surgery last year.

Manager Aaron Boone was forced to utilize Chad Green, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman as his primary relievers. The issue, Green was inconsistent, and Jonathan Holder was a liability at times. In addition, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa were questionable in high leverage situations, so the Yankees need another reliever to utilize.

At 28 years old, Bradley utilizes a few different pitches, but his primary two are his fastball and curveball. He uses his four-seam on average 65.9% of the time and curveball 22.5%. He also sprinkles in a sinker and changeup but really is a two-pitch thrower that hovers in the mid-90s with his four-seam.

New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez started his winter league with more strikeouts:

Gary Sanchez enjoyed his winter league debut on Friday night, and while he did earn one solid single, it was a lot more striking out than one would hope for. His one hit was a soft liner over the second baseman’s head, showing solid patience at the plate and contact. This was against Yankees’ Prospect Albert Abreu, who made his major league debut this past year.

Nonetheless, Sanchez finished the night 1-for-5 with three strikeouts in the victory. It is fair to give him some slack after not playing for a few weeks, but considering this level of competition, there’s no way this was a confidence-boosting performance. He is still looking to revitalize his offense and provide more value for the Yankees down the line, especially since they’ve offered him a new contract for the 2021 season.

Is Archie Bradley on the New York Yankees’ radar?

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New York Yankees, Archie Bradley

Tender day has come and gone in Major League Baseball. The New York Yankees ended up deciding to tender Gary Sanchez a contract yesterday which was the biggest question mark around the ballclub yesterday.

However, the Yankees did non-tender one player. That player would be reliever Jonathan Holder. Holder has been very up and down for the Yankees during his tenure with the ballclub. With Holder out of the picture, the Yankees have a spot open in their bullpen.

During tender day, we saw a lot of quality players get released. More than normal due to the amount of money that teams lost last year due to the pandemic shortened season. One of those players was reliever, Archie Bradley.

Bradley was non-tendered by the Reds yesterday making him a free agent. Archie Bradley is a very good reliever. Over the past few years with Arizona and Cincinnati he’s been terrific never having an ERA above 4.

Since 2017, Bradley has posted the following ERAs: 1.73, 3.64, 3.52, 2.95. He’s a reliever that the Yankees have actually been interested in before. At the trade deadline of 2019, the Yankees made an attempt to acquire Bradley and Robbie Ray from Arizona.

Will the Yankees make the move?

The Yankees have been interested in Archie Bradley before. There’s a lot to like about Bradley as a reliever and he would be a welcomed addition to the stable that the Yankees are putting together.

Right now, the bombers focus remains on resigning DJ LeMahieu. That is their priority number one. While their rotation is still in question, it doesn’t appear that the team is poised to make a big splash for a starting pitcher this offseason.

That being said, I can see them trying to upgrade the bullpen a little. Non-tendering Jonathan Holder is a part of that plan for the New York Yankees. If you can replace Holder with Archie Bradley, you’ve hit a home run.

Now, with the importance of good arms in the bullpen, Bradley is going to have a number of suitors. He’s not going to come cheap for whoever signs him. That said, the Yankees let Holder go and Tommy Kahnle is gone. There is room for Bradley in the Bronx bullpen.

Of course, the Yankees could use internal options in order to save a little more money. That is entirely possible, however, don’t be shocked if you start to hear the Yankees tied to the free agency of Archie Bradley.