Yankees: 3 free agents NYY must avoid this offseason

2. Kirby Yates

The Yankees are going to look at reliever options, but unless he’d take a one-year deal, Kirby Yates is not the move.

Prior to Kirby Yates‘ 2020 season, we thought it was a solid idea to throw the spotlight on the 34-year-old as a 2020-21 offseason Yankees target.

Unfortunately, his shortened campaign was a certified Paxton-esque disaster.

Though he didn’t need Tommy John surgery, Yates pitched in six games, posted an unsightly 12.46 ERA, and shut things down to remove some bone chips from his right elbow. Way to go into free agency on a high note!

However, much of this 60-game campaign is likely to be forgotten by teams looking for free agent reliever help. Though the market will be more constricted than ever this year, Yates’ spectacular 2019 season should be more than enough to nab him a moderately priced two-year deal.

But with a razor-thin margin for error, the Yankees shouldn’t go more than one season for the Hawaiian righty, who they’ve already seen in their own backyard with underwhelming results. As a Yankee, Yates threw 41.1 innings of 5.23 ERA baseball in 2016 as a 29-year-old.

We loved his ’19 season for the ages, in which the sinker specialist whiffed 101 in 60.2, posting a 1.19 ERA. Those are jaw-on-the-floor numbers. At this point, though, he’d mean much more to a team like the Padres looking to maintain a fan favorite and attempting to spend a bit extravagantly this offseason.

For bargain shoppers, there’s a lot of regression risk factored in here.