New York Yankees Editorial: Should the Yankees Look to Create a Super Pen?

With the Kansas City Royals now one game away from winning the World Series, they’ve once again displayed the power of having a shut down bullpen.

As a matter of fact, over the last two seasons and their historic run to back-to-back World Series appearances, the Royals have relied on the same exact formula.

Keep the ballgame close, then hand the ball off to the best trio of relievers in baseball history – Kelvin Herrera in the seventh, Wade Davis in the eighth and Greg Holland in the ninth. Last season Luke Hocheaver was their eight inning guy, but after a UCL-tear his elbow last March, he returned as the go-to sixth inning guy when needed.

Statistically speaking, no bullpen is close to matching Kansas City. No team in the history of baseball finished a season with two relievers with at least 60 innings pitched and an ERA under 1.50, but the Royals did it with three; Herrera (1.41 ERA), Davis (1.00 ERA) and Holland (1.44 ERA).

As Ned Yost and the Royals have displayed, the recipe for success is good defense and a super bullpen.

With the 2015 American League Reliever of the Year Andrew Miller in the fold for three more years and Brooklyn native Dellin Betances just starting to show his true potential, the Yankees are two/thirds of the way to having a super bullpen of their own.

That said, can Brian Cashman create a Kansas City-esque super bullpen around both Miller and Betances?

According to the rumors surrounding the Yankees during the 2015 MLB Trade Deadline this past July, Brian Cashman sure was close. The Yankees were linked to relievers such as Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman and Carter Capps, and according to some sources, the Yankees were even prepared to deal blue-chip prospect Jorge Mateo for one of the aforementioned relievers, but no deal was reached.

Should Cashman make a super bullpen his top priority this winter, there are some interesting names to consider.

On the free agent front, Darren O’Day, Joakim Soria and former Yankees reliever Tyler Clippard are all available. On the trade wire, Aroldis Chapman and Kimbrel will be back in play during the 2015 Baseball Winter Meetings. Internally, Justin Wilson, the ‘strikeout factory’ Jacob Lindgren, a healthy Andrew Bailey and the 24-year old James Pazos are young arms with the potential to be lock down bullpen relievers.

The Yankees have their closer in Andrew Miller and set-up man in Dellin Betances. Now it’s time for Cashman to work towards building a deadly bullpen around them.

What do you think Yankee fans? Who should Brian Cashman consider? Let us know in the comments below.

New York Yankees Editorial: Should the Yankees Look to Create a Super Pen?

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