Tommy Kahnle’s time with Yankees coming to official end is sad

The Yankees are moving on from Tommy Kahnle.

This isn’t a surprise whatsoever, but it’s newsworthy and … sad. Reliever Tommy Kahnle has elected free agency on Saturday and is no longer a New York Yankee after declining an outright assignment from the team.

The right-hander appeared in one game in 2020 before he was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire year. It was expected he wouldn’t be tendered a contract because he’s likely going to miss all of 2021 as he recovers.

The 2021 campaign would’ve been his final season under contract with the Yankees, but what’s even more devastating is that the right-hander missed out on a profitable opportunity to build up his value ahead of his first chance to hit free agency.

And look how fun this guy was!

Kahnle was acquired by the Yankees during the 2017 season in a trade with the Chicago White Sox, and the right-hander played a big role in helping the team push the Houston Astros to the brink in the ALCS that year.

However, he had a terrible 2018, which featured a 6.56 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 24 games, though that was another year characterized by injuries. He rebounded in a big way in 2019, becoming a much more significant fixture in the bullpen by logging a 3.67 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 88 strikeouts in 72 games (61.1 innings). His changeup was exactly what this relief corps needed.

And Yankees fans didn’t forget that. When the team was battling with the Rays in the ALDS, everyone knew if Kahnle was around it would’ve been a much different story. Manager Aaron Boone had nobody to rely on outside of Chad Green, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman. Kahnle’s presence and ability to go multiple innings could’ve very well altered the outcome of that series.

It won’t be easy replacing him, either. While there are a number of decent options in free agency, the Yankees acquired Kahnle years ago in order to help him get acclimated to playing in a high-pressure environment, and he was on a promising trajectory. Now, they’ll have to likely start from scratch with whomever they decide to go with.

Here’s to hoping for Kahnle to endure a speedy recovery in 2021 and come back as strong as ever in 2022. Maybe a reunion will be in the cards by then.

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