Yankees: 3 extremely cheap bullpen targets as Spring Training approaches

1. Justin Wilson

The Yankees could welcome Justin Wilson back from the other side of town.

Hey, we’re on a lefty kick!

The first time the Yankees acquired Justin Wilson, it was an absolute coup; he came over from the Pirates for Francisco Cervelli and immediately slotted in as a Wild Card team’s seventh-inning guy.

Then, as suddenly as he arrived, he was gone again, dealt to Detroit following the 2015 season in exchange for…Cessa and Green! Who knew?

All the now-33-year-old Wilson’s done in the intervening years is deal, outside of a good peripherals/bad results stretch in Chicago after the 2017 deadline. After posting 2.54 and 3.66 ERAs with strong strikeout numbers over the past two years in Flushing, someone’s going to get a one-year steal in Wilson, who can’t possibly cost more than O’Day, and likely settles into Watson territory.

As Yankees fans know, he’s a lefty who thrives against batters on both sides of the plate — though, to be fair, righties bludgeoned him in a small sample size in 2020 (2020, who cares). In his previous full season in 2019, they combined to hit just .232 as a unit off Wilson, striking out 27 times in 109 PAs. In fact, Wilson’s strikeout-to-walk ratio was far superior against opposite-siders (3.38 to 1.55).

There’s still room on any modern baseball team for Wilson, even with a draconian batter minimum applied. And if he doesn’t have to hold down seventh inning duties and can instead be deployed whenever he’s needed most? All the better.

Yankees: 3 free agents NYY must avoid this offseason

The New York Yankees are going to have to get creative in free agency, and these three specific maneuvers should be very much avoided.