Yankees: 3 free agents NYY can likely sign after Spring Training begins

The Yankees can target these three free agents whenever they please, likely into February.

In the slowest free agent market we’ve ever seen, it seems quite likely there’ll be some overflow of available talent long into February for the New York Yankees to pick and choose from, once they’ve got their front-line needs settled.

Some of those players will be bounce back candidates with plenty to prove. Some will be injured former stars hoping for a second chance, which likely won’t come until all able-bodied free agents are signed to guaranteed deals. And some will be excellent depth pieces, lingering in the background until franchises realize their rosters need to be filled out.

Many of them will be better fits than, say, recent Yankees acquisition Socrates Brito. We just don’t know it yet.

None of these three pieces are people the Yanks should base their entire offseason on, nor should they base even a portion of their offseason on them. But they are reclamation projects, seat-fillers, and chemists who will be waiting for Brian Cashman to call if he becomes ready, likely after the rest of the deck has been stacked.

If we reach mid-February and the Yankees still need some depth (they will!), they will likely be able to call up these interesting pieces.

3. Jake Arrieta

Wait, sorry, the Yankees can sign, like, *Jake Arrieta* Jake Arrieta?

Seriously, raise your hand if you knew Jake Arrieta, star of the 2015 Cubs, was a free agent this offseason.

And raise your hand if you knew that his myriad shoulder injury issues, which have seemingly forced him from a series of random starts throughout his Phillies tenure, have never built to something more significant, surgically forcing him to the IL for an extended amount of time.

All bumps and bruises considered, though, Arrieta is as close to off the map as a former Cy Young winner can get these days, and the 34-year-old will have turned 35 by the time the 2021 season commences.

At this moment, Arrieta is not a good pitcher. He’s barely a middling one. He abruptly stopped striking out batters at the age of 32 once his Phillies contract began, and his ERA ballooned from 3.96 to 4.64 to 5.08 in his three seasons in Philadelphia. There’s little to no reason for any penny-pinching team, at this point, to blow a portion of their budget on Arrieta’s services until it comes time to stockpile insurance once the season’s about to start.

Dare we say that all Arrieta has earned this offseason is a minor-league contract? If so, the Yankees should be more than happy to give him one when the time is right. There’s far less upside here than there is with Corey Kluber, but there’s similar pedigree. Let’s reevaluate this in mid-February.