Yankees: Ranking their top five moves of the offseason thus far

Throughout the offseason, the Yankees have been one of the busiest teams in baseball. They have made a slew of moves to try to improve the club and each one should pay serious dividends this upcoming season.

I know they haven’t made the splashy move to sign either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado (as of yet), but that doesn’t mean the Yankees haven’t had a very successful offseason. I’d say they’ve had as good of a hot stove season as you could have up to this point and there’s still a little over two weeks to go before pitchers and catcher report to spring training.

The Yanks and GM Brian Cashman have addressed multiple needs most noticeably by bolstering their starting rotation. Last October, poor starting pitching was probably their biggest downfall and the main reason why they were sent home early by their arch rivals the Red Sox.

They’ve also continued to invest a lot of money into a bullpen that was already arguably the best in baseball a season ago. They re-signed Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia, the two longest-tenured Yankees from last year’s club and the top two leaders in their clubhouse. They’ve shored up their infield defense and have found a short term replacement for the injured Didi Gregorius in veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

They did lose free agent David Robertson to the Phillies and just this week they completed a trade sending Sonny Gray to the Reds. Robertson will be missed but the same can’t really be said about Gray who struggled mightily during his time in pinstripes and needed a change of scenery.

Every move the Yanks have made has been a good one in my opinion. Without further ado here’s how I’d rank their top five additions of the offseason thus far.

The first move on the list was just made official on Thursday when the Yankees announced they signed Adam Ottavino to a three-year, $27 million deal. The 33-year-old right-hander was born and raised in Brooklyn and now he’ll get the chance to play for the team he grew up rooting for as a kid.

Ottavino is coming off a career-year with the Rockies a season ago where he went 6-4 with a 2.43 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and an impressive 112 K’s (13.0 K’s per 9). He was dominant in 2018 and really announced himself as one of the top relievers in the game today. Ottavino will fit nicely into this Yankee bullpen because of his ability to strike hitters out at a very high rate and his effectiveness against right-handed hitters.

Last season Ottavino held righties to an ERA of 1.79 ERA, a .142 BA, and a .236 SLG %. He was no slouch against left-handers either but throughout his career, he’s been much tougher facing righties. That’s mostly because of his frisbee-like slider which is one of the most unhittable pitches in the game today. He also has a nasty two-seam fastball that he uses extremely well to induce a ton of soft contact.

With the aforementioned David Robertson now gone Ottavino essentially replaces him in this year’s pen. He’ll be used similarly by manager Aaron Boone pitching anywhere from the sixth to ninth inning when called upon. Dellin Betances and Zach Britton will be used as the primary set-up men in front of Aroldis Chapman so Ottavino can be used earlier in games as one of the first relievers out of the pen to clean up a starter’s mess and get out of a big jam.

Whatever role he ends up filling Ottavino will help this Yankee team shorten games and hold down leads better than any pen in the game. He’s a big-time addition and if last year was any indication it looks like he’s just entering the prime years of his career.

After the Yankees missed out on signing top free agent starter Patrick Corbin earlier this offseason the front office and GM Brian Cashman wisely shifted focus to re-signing J.A. Happ. Following the acquisition of James Paxton (who I’ll get to later) the Yanks still needed to add another front line starter to round out their rotation so trying to bring back Happ made a ton of sense.

Last season after he was acquired by the Yankees prior to the trade deadline Happ was outstanding, going 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts. He gave them everything they could have hoped for and more down the stretch to help them secure home field in the AL Wild Card Game.

Unfortunately, in the postseason, Happ struggled during Game 1 of the ALDS against the Red Sox allowing 5 earned runs in just two innings. However, despite how his season ended Happ proved that he can handle pitching in New York and that at age 36 he still has multiple years of production left in him. Happ reportedly was looking for a three-year deal from clubs during free agency and even had a few offers on the table before he ended up signing back with the Yanks for a two-year deal with a vesting option for a third.

At this point in his career, Happ clearly wants to win and knows that this Yankee team is going to be in a position to contend for a championship for at least the next two seasons. He was smart to accept the Yankees offer and bet on himself because all he has to do is make 27 starts or throw at least 165 innings which were two totals he surpassed in 2018.

Happ might not be an ace or a number two starter for this Yankee staff but he’s a very solid three or four and he’ll provide some much-needed durability and stability. He’s going to put up quality starts and keep the team in the game every time he takes the mound which should go a long way in helping the Yanks accomplish their first goal of winning the division.

One of the Yankees biggest needs to address this offseason was adding someone who could help them clean up their infield defense. They did that to an extent with the Tulowitzki signing but given his injury history, there’s no telling if he’ll be able to stay healthy during Didi’s entire absence. Injuries aren’t a concern with D.J. LeMahieu which is why I’d put his signing ahead of Tulo’s for these rankings. Also, since Gleyber Torres is more than capable of playing shortstop I think we’ll see much more of LeMahieu than Tulo in the everyday lineup.

The Yankees say they plan on playing LeMahieu at first and third base as well, but if they want to get the best out of him he should spend most of his time at second. It’s the position where he’s won two gold gloves and has had more defensive runs saved than any other second basemen since 2016.

He could also fill in at third base at times and Miguel Andujar can DH while Tulo plays short and Giancarlo Stanton plays left field. The point is the Yankees didn’t sign LeMaheiu to a two year, $24 million deal to spend a lot of time on the bench. He’s going to play a ton wherever that may be and if that means Tulo has to sit than so be it.

The Yankees lineup will be best off with Andujar and Torres in it along with LeMahieu because of his ability to put the ball in play. That’s one of the reasons I like this signing so much because over the past three seasons DJ has only averaged 84 K’s per. He also has a right-handed swing built for Yankee Stadium because he’s always trying to hit the ball the opposite way and last season he set a career high with 15 home runs.

I know LeMahieu’s home and road splits might scare some people now that he won’t be playing half his games at Coors Field, but that doesn’t really concern me. I think he has a chance to surprise some people by hitting more home runs and with his bat to ball skills, he’ll help the Yanks become a much more balanced offense.

This was a move I don’t think many Yankee fans saw coming at all, but it’s one we should be happy they made because LeMahieu is going to help this team in a multitude of ways.

When the offseason began I knew the Yankees were going to have a hard time bringing back both Zach Britton and David Robertson. I thought Robertson was more likely to be re-signed because I figured Britton would want to sign with a team that gave him the opportunity to close again.

Apparently, that wasn’t a priority for Britton and once D-Rob signed with the Phillies the Yanks made it a priority to bring him back. Britton signed a three-year deal for $39M to come back with a fourth-year option for $14M.

Bringing back Britton was a huge get for the Yanks because it gives them three shut down options to go to at the back end of their pen. That’s not even including Chad Green and the recently signed Ottavino who could both be just as dominant on any given day.

The reason I love this signing so much is that Britton is entering 2019 coming off a healthy offseason after he missed a large chunk of the beginning of 2018 recovering from a torn Achilles. With a full spring training to prepare for the regular season, I think there’s a good chance Britton will be even better than he was last season and returns to being the same guy he was for the Orioles from 2014-2016.

During those seasons there wasn’t a better reliever or closer in all of baseball. That’s scary to think about knowing that he’s projected to be the Yankees seventh-inning man in front of Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. Those are three of the most unhittable pitchers in baseball when they’re on their game so if the Yankees can get the ball in their hands with a lead next season it should be game over.

Another takeaway from the Britton signing is he gives them some insurance in case either Chapman or Betances leave as free agents next season. If Chapman leaves Britton is a perfect option to take over as closer and if Dellin leaves Britton could take over the eighth inning. Hopefully, they both stay, but even if they don’t the Yankees bullpen should still be one of the best in the game for the next couple of seasons with Britton on the squad.