Yankees Rumors: Both NY Clubs in on Lefty Reliever Boone Logan

Both the New York Yankees and New York Mets are rumored to have interest in free agent lefthanded reliever Boone Logan this winter.

According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the two New York clubs may be competing for the services of veteran lefty Boone Logan this winter. The Yankees and Mets are both looking to upgrade their bullpen over the next few months, and Logan is coming off a solid season with Colorado.

The 32-year-old lefty should be in for a nice payday after pitching to a 3.69 ERA and 3.23 FIP over 46.1 innings despite making roughly half of his appearances in Coors Field. He struck out a robust 30.5% of the batters he faced, while walking 10.7%, and working to a 48.7% ground ball rate.

MLBTR ranked Logan 39th on their list of 2016-2017 Top 50 MLB Free Agents and predicted a two year $12 million deal. For what it’s worth, Logan somewhat surprisingly didn’t make Dave Cameron’s top 50 list at FanGraphs.

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Loyal fans will remember that Logan was a key member of the Yankees pen from 2010-2013, compiling a 3.38 ERA and 3.63 FIP over 256 appearances in pinstripes. He came over along with Javier Vasquez from the Atlanta Braves after the 2009 season in exchange for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino.

Logan worked mostly as a LOOGY with the Yankees, and that is still probably how he is most effectively deployed. He held same-side batters to a .142/.222/.255 (29 OPS+) in 119 plate appearances, while righties put up a much healthier .211/.338/.421 (107 OPS+) slash line in 68 PA.

New York already has a few lefty relief options in house with Chasen Shreve, Tommy Layne (assuming he is tendered a contract), and recent waiver pickup Joe Mantiply. Tyler Webb and Dietrich Enns are two more options that could be added to the 40-man this winter or there is a strong possibility they will be selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

While his first stint in the Bronx went well, I’m not sure that Logan is a clear enough upgrade over those guys to warrant a relatively big money multi-year deal when payroll space is presumably limited this winter.

Next: Options at DH if the Yankees Trade McCann

If the Yankees are going to add a reliever this offseason, my preference would be to go after one (or more) of the big fish like Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon. Go big or go home. Anyone else probably isn’t worth our time given the number of interesting young arms New York has.