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Yankees: 3 free agent busts fans should be glad NYY didn’t sign

By Thomas Carannante |
CINCINNATI, OHIO - AUGUST 30: Jon Lester #31 of the St. Louis Cardinals walks across the field in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 30, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO - AUGUST 30: Jon Lester #31 of the St. Louis Cardinals walks across the field in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 30, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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Brad Hand #52 of the Toronto Blue Jays (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
Brad Hand #52 of the Toronto Blue Jays (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

OK, maybe every New York Yankees fan isn’t qualified to be a general manager. Because many advocated for some of these guys this past offseason, and, well, they all would’ve been disastrous signings.

The Yankees needed a lot of things heading into 2021, but general manager Brian Cashman was hamstrung by the organization’s self-imposed financial restraints. There were no blank checks this time around and it was a lot of budget shopping.

But oh man, even these once-upon-a-time cost-effective free agents would’ve been horrible had the Yankees pulled the trigger. You want to talk about a starting rotation and bullpen being completely decimated?

That’s what would’ve happened had Cashman explored these signings, which have all blown up in these teams’ faces despite the fact they looked good on paper.

For the amount of grief fans give Cashman, he’s actually done a tremendous job building this roster, and even more so under the constraints he faced over the last 10 months.

And we’re really, really glad he didn’t take a flyer on any of these players.

Yankees fans should be glad they avoided these three free agent busts.

3. Brad Hand

Brad Hand, who the Yankees completely own, is already on his THIRD team in 2021. How is that even possible?! After the Cleveland Indians rejected his team option, he signed a deal with the Washington Nationals to be their closer.

Then he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in July as the Yankees’ division rival attempted to beef up their bullpen. The lefty wasn’t spectacular in the nation’s capital, but a 3.59 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 21 saves figured to at least help the Jays, right?

Not at all. They cut him loose after he logged a 7.21 ERA in 11 games. He didn’t record a single save. And then the Mets picked him up this week! That should go well.

Maybe Hand would’ve been in a better position to succeed with the Yankees since, heading into 2021, New York’s bullpen had a lot of heavy hitters that could help take the pressure of the left-hander. Nonetheless, fans should be very glad he’s not throwing batting practice to the opposition in innings 7-9. Imagine what would’ve happened while this unit was spiraling in June and July?

Starting pitcher Mike Minor #23 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Starting pitcher Mike Minor #23 of the Kansas City Royals (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

2. Mike Minor

We thought this was a good signing by the Kansas City Royals. In fact, we were jealous! There were so few attractive starters on the market this offseason that Mike Minor seemed like he could be a prime candidate to lengthen the Yankees rotation and give Gerrit Cole enough protection and support in the back end.

Again, perhaps things would be different if the left-hander wasn’t pitching for the lowly Royals, but he’s got a 5.25 ERA in 27 starts this season. That’s miles worse than anything the Yankees have dealt with this year.

And it’s quite frankly a bit of a shock because he was an All-Star in 2019 with the Texas Rangers after holding onto a 3.59 ERA across 32 starts. He owned an ERA in the high 3’s over his last 60 starts before the shortened 2020 season adversely affected everyone’s momentum/overall body of work with disastrous small sample sizes.

Though Minor’s FIP is almost a full run lower than his ERA, all of his advanced stats are bad. He’s in the bottom percentile among the league’s starters in maximum exit velocity, barrel percentage, expected slugging percentage, and fastball velocity.

Not what the Yankees needed. At all. Especially at $9 million per season.

Former Washington Nationals pitcher Jon Lester. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Former Washington Nationals pitcher Jon Lester. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

1. Jon Lester

When the Yankees needed to round off their starting rotation with one final candidate, some thought Jon Lester would be the perfect match.

He’s a World Series champion who was looking for a new home and a chance at redemption after falling off with the Chicago Cubs. The Boston Red Sox lowballed him in contract talks years back, so why not come to the Bronx and stick it to them?

It wasn’t unreasonable to assume a fairly toxic environment in Chicago (a managerial change, tension with Kris Bryant, no security beyond 2021 for other cornerstones like Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo) affected Lester’s play, which featured back-to-back uncharacteristically bad campaigns in 2019 and 2020.

When the Nationals brought him on board for one year and $10 million to put him alongside Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, some wondered why the Yankees didn’t think his experience, pedigree and well-within-reason chance to bounce back wasn’t enough for them.

Well, again, Cashman was right. Lester, after a bad start with the Nats, was traded to St. Louis, where he has also been bad, at the deadline. Overall, he’s got a 5.05 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 22 starts. Like Minor, that would’ve been the worst the Yankees would feature in their rotation this year. Domingo German and Michael King are better options.

Now, that $11 million spent on Corey Kluber? It really doesn’t look so bad.

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