4 offseason free agent deals Yankees should have matched

3. Chris Martin

Are we a little biased here, considering we know Chris Martin (another former Yankee) ultimately went from the Dodgers to the Red Sox, creating a bright spot in Boston’s otherwise-criticized offseason? Of course! We’d be less inclined to stop him from ending up in Chicago.

That said, Martin is a walk-limiting machine who was paid for his recent success more than his journeyman past — though, under the radar, it should be known that the right-hander sported the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in MLB last season, as well as cumulatively for the past five seasons.

The Yankees swapped Kahnle into their bullpen for Chad Green, and will hopefully slot in Michael King in place of … Michael King, who departed 2022’s ‘pen far too soon. That said, Aroldis Chapman, Lucas Luetge and Zack Britton have yet to be officially accounted for. Say what you will about Chapman (and we have!), but he was considered to be essential, once upon a time. Luetge was a low-leverage machine, and Britton’s injury took him off the map, but that’s three veteran bodies who are likely to become rookies in next year’s bullpen.

Replacing the scattered Chapman with the composed Martin would’ve felt like a coup, especially at $6.75 million annually for two years.

Instead, he’s in Boston’s much-improved (gulp) bullpen.