Yankees could pluck two bullpen arms from the Athletics

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Yankees could approach the Oakland A’s for a pair of veteran relief pitchers; Ryan Madson and left-hander Sean Doolittle.

Make no doubt about it, the Yankees have holes to fill. The problem is, after losing 14 out of their last 19 games, the direction of the team is no longer clear.

Yes, the club currently sits only three games back of the Red Sox for first place in the AL East, while holding a two-game lead in the Wild Card standings, but for how much longer no one knows.

With the current plight of the team and wave of reinforcements coming from the minors, things are looking very promising for the future. As for the 2017 season, it’s a bit murky.

To put it bluntly, no one expected the Yankees to be playing 43-37 ball at this stage in the season. If you tell me you did, then you’re lying to yourself.

Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild — that’s all we heard all offseason. And while I argued fiercely that it’s incredibly hard to contend with a mish-mash roster of veterans and rookies, the Yankees, on the back of inconsistent pitching and one injury after the other, managed to stay afloat this long.

Unfortunately, the bullpen was overtaxed and has since broken down in a big way. Manager Joe Girardi has always made way too many pitching changes during the course of a season (he led the majors in this category in 2016). And now, what once were tiny cracks are spreading like the San Andreas fault.

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General Manager Brian Cashman must decide whether or not it is a wise decision to fill those gaps with veteran arms that likely wouldn’t cost a ton in return or to play out the season as is and let the youngsters gain valuable experience, even if it means a precipitous drop in the standings.

Should Cashman inevitably determine his club can turn it around before July 31, fixing the bullpen is a must.

Dellin Betances may be an All-Star for the fourth time in his career, but you wouldn’t know it over his past two outings (six runs allowed and five walks). Tyler Clippard is going through one of the worst stretches of his career (11 earned runs in his past eight appearances), Adam Warren is still on the mend and Aroldis Chapman, who has only pitched once since June 26 has shown real signs of rust.

According to Cafardo, this is where the A’s come in.

Relievers Ryan Madson and lefty Sean Doolittle are both having good years and are likely to change addresses soon. Doolittle is more of an injury risk. Both relievers could be targeted by the Nationals and Yankees.

At 30-years-old, Doolittle is only 2 1/2 years removed from a 22-save season. Though his 3.31 ERA this season leaves something to be desired, his 23:2 K:BB ratio (12.9 K per 9 IP) and 0.735 WHIP more than make up for it.

Scheduled to make $4.3 million next season, Doolittle has two option years to follow for $12.5 million in total. Should the former 2014 All-Star stay healthy, he’d be an absolute steal for the Bombers.

As for Madson, 36, he’s followed up his 30-save 2016 season by compiling a 2.48 ERA in 32.2 IP to go along with a robust 31:6 K:BB ratio (8.7 K per 9 IP). The 12-year veteran has one-year remaining on his contract at a controllable $7.6 million.

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The acquisition of either reliever would allow the Yankees to cut some of the deadwood currently hindering their inability to hold leads in the late stages of critical games.