Yankees absolutely whiff again after Phillies land Archie Bradley on team-friendly contract

The Yankees let another potential bullpen option slip away on Thursday.

Here we are again — another hit piece on the New York Yankees that we didn’t want to write.

While the organization has been making it clear that adding big contracts to the payroll (aside from potentially DJ LeMahieu) won’t be happening, you’d think there’d be some cost-effective deals under consideration or in line … you know, ones that aren’t Greg Allen, Tyler Lyons or Jhoulys Chacin. No offense to those guys, at all.

But yet again, the Yankees let another bargain option slip away in free agency when they watched Archie Bradley sign a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Bradley, who was seen wearing a CC Sabathia jersey earlier in the offseason, was believed to be a target of the Bombers because of their need for another bullpen arm.

Well, apparently the Yankees can’t read the market, or $6 million is too much for them to spend on a high-upside, hard-throwing right-hander.

Bradley, a failed starting pitching prospect, has carved out a career for himself as a reliable bullpen arm, logging a 2.82 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with 257 strikeouts in 233.1 innings since the start of 2017.

Whether you wanted Bradley or not, that’s not the point. General manager Brian Cashman continues to play the waiting game and is letting inferior teams like the Padres, Mets, White Sox, Nationals and Phillies capitalize on the market while the Yankees seem to be relying on injuries not plaguing them as the solution for 2021.

Was Bradley a necessity? No. But he would’ve been a rock solid piece in the bridge to Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman, especially with the losses of Tommy Kahnle and Jonathan Holder (as well as the big question mark surrounding Adam Ottavino).

There are many options left, but nothing indicates the Yankees will be pouncing on any of them, especially with how good of a fit Bradley appeared to be — both in regards to his pitching arsenal and his price tag.

Dave Dombrowski is back in some capacity to undermine the Yankees, and here’s the latest instance of it. The Phillies, who were beyond desperate for bullpen help, somehow managed to snag Bradley on this wildly team-friendly deal despite the fact they need an entire new relief corps in order to even dream of succeeding.

Wouldn’t it just have been easier for the Yanks to convince him he’d join a juggernaut bullpen that will be competing for a World Series?

Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe the Yankees have a better idea in mind. The only problem? There are no tracks leading to that being the case. So for now, we’ll just sit back and be upset at every move they don’t make.

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