Reacquiring Adam Warren a Sneaky-Good Move for Yankees

One of the key components of the Aroldis Chapman trade is former Yankees pitcher Adam Warren, who improves the team’s rotation and bullpen in one swoop.

Adam Warren was often one of the most underrated and overlooked members of the Yankees pitching staff during his first tenure with the team from 2012-2015. An unheralded fourth round pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Warren breezed through the minors as a polished college arm, compiling a 3.19 ERA in 92 MiLB starts.

After two strong seasons as a key cog in the Yankees bullpen, Warren split 2015 between working as a starter and reliever. He was arguably the team’s best starting pitcher in the first three months of the season, pitching to a solid 3.59 ERA in 82.2 IP through 14 starts, but was unjustly demoted when Ivan Nova returned from Tommy John surgery.

Despite Rob Refsnyder‘s success down the stretch in 2015, the Yankees spent the first few months of the offseason for an upgrade at second base. They ultimately landed on Starlin Castro and decided to relinquish their valuable swingman Warren in the process. 

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Even with their vaunted “No Runs DMC” group to close out games, the Yankees have felt the absence of Adam Warren in the first half of the season. Their young middle relief corps has struggled to get the ball successfully to their late-inning guys.

With his ability to pitch multiple quality innings in each outing, Warren should go a long way towards solidifying the Yankees bullpen.

Alternatively, the Yankees could once again try Adam Warren as a starting pitcher after his successful run in 2015. The team is reportedly shopping fifth starter Ivan Nova hard before the trade deadline, so there could soon be an opening for him.

Of course, part of the reason the Cubs were so willing to include Warren in the Chapman deal is he has been pretty terrible for Chicago this year, with a 5.91 ERA in 35 innings pitched. He was just optioned to Triple-A Iowa Sunday to make room on the roster for Joe Nathan.

That said, Adam Warren is still on the right side of 30. The Yankees front office and coaching staff are extremely familiar with him after playing seven years in the team’s system. If anyone is going to know how to sort out what’s gone wrong with him this season, they will.

Warren may not be the central piece in the Aroldis Chapman deal, but he is a nice throw-in, and is certainly the player who will have the most impact on the big league club this year and next, as no other player in the deal has played above Double-A.