Yankees sign left-hander Rex Brothers to a minor league deal

With rumors swirling that the Phillies are close to signing Zach Britton and the Cardinals strongly linked to Andrew Miller, the Yankees struck first by inking Rex Brothers to a minor league contract. Oh boy.

Though the bulk of big-time relief pitchers sit still on the open market (David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, Craig Kimbrel), the Yankees have gone ahead and taken a flier on 31-year-old left-hander, Rex Brothers.

Having spent all but one game of last season in the Braves’ minor league system, the Yanks have to view Brothers as nothing more than farm system depth and a potential injury replacement.

Once a top prospect in the Rockies organization, Brothers has decent enough big league stats to at least warrant another look: 20-14 with a 3.79 ERA, 10.5 K/9 and 24 home runs allowed over parts of seven seasons (314 relief appearances).

Armed with the ability to reach the upper 90’s with his fastball, Brothers’ concern has long been his ability to keep the ball in the strike zone, as his 5.2 BB/9 will attest.

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Brothers began 2018 at Triple-A Gwinnett, going 2-4 with a disastrous 7.24 ERA, 2.16 WHIP, .257 BAA and a 37:33 K:BB ratio across 27.1 innings before being demoted to Double-A Mississippi by mid-July.

Things got slightly better against lesser talented hitters for Brothers, as he was able to compile a 3-1 record, 4.05 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, .149 BAA and 19:11 K:BB ratio in 13.1 innings pitched.

The Yankees will hope that Brothers can rediscover some of the poise he displayed way back in 2012 — when he worked a 1.74 ERA across 67.2 innings (72 appearances) for Colorado.

While the Yanks remain interested in the services of Robertson, Britton and perhaps Brooklyn-native Adam Ottavino, Brothers can only be assured of an invite to Spring Training.

It’s hard to imagine him beating out the likes of Stephen Tarpley, who excelled during the month of September as a left-handed specialist out of the ‘pen — but general manager Brian Cashman must see something he likes in Brothers.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yanks released right-hander Parker Bridwell, whom they claimed off waivers from the Angels on Nov. 26.