The Bullpen Jumble

December 27, 2009

Good evening, faithful readers.

As most of you probably know, a good bullpen probably should have more than one lefty reliever to give both lefties rest and add some extra depth for ballgames. With that being said, the Yankees acquired their second lefty for the bullpen in Boone Logan in the Vazquez-Cabrera deal with the Braves.

But I’m not sold on Boone Logan. Obviously. Why would I be?

And the Yankees still need to sort out who’s going to be in that last ‘pen spot. Here’s how the pen is looking out:

 Alfredo Aceves – A dominant Mexican pitcher who can pitch multiple innings. Aceves was pretty darn reliable for most of the year save for about one rough patch or two. He looked unimpressive for the most part in the playoffs, but he capped off his season in the World Series with two shutout frames in Philadelphia, and I’m still quite confident in his ability.

Boone Logan – A mediocre left handed reliever.

Damaso Marte – A consistently inconsistent lefty with great stuff. Dominated in the playoffs but still can’t really be depended on at this point.

David Robertson – A strikeout specialized righty who is dependable and pitched great in the playoffs. This was his first year of dominance, however.

Joba Chamberlain/Phil Hughes – I’m surprised I’m saying this, but I’d rather Joba be in the bullpen at this point. He struggled for the most part last year, the Yankees appear to never stop babying him and I’d like to see what the young Hughes is gonna do as a starting pitcher after his dominant 09 season as a relief pitcher. I’d be fine either way here though, because you can basically say the same thing for both guys. So much for Generation Tre, by the way. Ian Kennedy is a new member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Look for me to do an article about Generation Tre later on, too.

Mariano Rivera – No explanation necessary.

But who will fill out that 7 hole? Last year, it was Coke, Marte, Hughes, Robertson, Chamberlain(in the playoffs), Aceves and Mariano Rivera. But Coke is long gone and only one of the Hughes/Chamberlain duo can return, leaving us with 6.

Will the Yanks even go with 7? Some teams decide to stick with 6, I suppose. But I’d prefer a 7th, because I need a little more depth, a little more cushion in case the bullpen goes through a long stretch of a lot of work.

So the choices are Jonathan Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, and Mark Melancon. Perhaps you’d go with someone else I didn’t name.

Tell me what you think in a comment below, because I always like to see what you guys think.

Stay positive, Yankee fans.

-EJ the Kid From New York

Written by mlblogsyankeesquad Posted in Dailies Tagged with bullpen, relief, Yankees