Yankees fans can't overlook major Pete Fairbanks issues after surprising Marlins deal

The frustration surrounding the New York Yankees' offseason has reached the point where fans saw reliever Pete Fairbanks come off the board and needed to let out some criticism. Had to. There was no other option for a reaction. Brian Cashman has made zero impactful changes with this roster and 2026 will be here in a few days.

Fairbanks just had a career year, but the Tampa Bay Rays did not want to pay $11 million for his option next year. They rejected it, the right-hander hit free agency, and after six weeks he signed with the Miami Marlins on Christmas Eve.

The deal was for $13 million over just one year. How could the Yankees have not done that despite a glaring need for more back-end bullpen help? We wouldn't say Fairbanks was a must-have, but the Yankees of yesteryear would've added him as a luxury piece to either make the bullpen even stronger or insure themselves with a promising option in the event an untimely injury occurred.

The knee-jerk anger was understandable. But looking deeper into it — outside of Fairbanks being a notable name and the Yankees being the Yankees — this wasn't a fit and probably would've represented another sunk cost in September.

Let's start with the biggest issue: Fairbanks suffers from Raynaud's Syndrome, which is a condition that limits blood flow to one's fingers and toes. He landed on the IL for it in April of 2024 and it's intermittently affected him for years now. Why is that notable? Because Raynaud's is exacerbated in cold weather.

The Yankees play in cold weather for at least a month to start every campaign, and then when the most impoartant aspect oif the season rolls around in October. Sure, the front office could've looked at this as a promising investment from May through September, but the risk-reward probably wasn't worth it at $13 million with so many other roster holes and deficiencies.

Secondly, Fairbanks comes from a small market team. While Yankees fans don't discriminate against that, there is something to be said about the perils of a high-leverage reliever making the jump from a team that had the 29th-best attendance in 2025 all the way to the pressure-cooker Bronx. New York just learned from whatever happened with Devin Williams (who wasn't even believed to be a fit for the Yankees by Brewers people) in 2025, and expressed zero interest in re-signing him this offseason before he landed with the Mets. You can certainly fill your bullpen with some of these guys, but they shouldn't be the main ingredient, nor should they be the most expensive.

And lastly, what does the Yankees bullpen need the most? Swing and miss. That's no secret. The unit gives up far too much contact in what is a bad recipe when there's a very imperfect defense behind the pitchers. Fairbanks, while a good reliever, has seen considerable regression with key stats from 2024-2025.

From 2020-2023, Fairbanks struck out 201 batters over 138 2/3 innings. From 2024-2025? He rung up 103 over 105 2/3 innings. Additionally, after ranking among the best in the league for hard hit rate and whiff percentage, Fairbanks took a plunge and was either below average or among the worst in the league in those categories over the last two years. To put that in a hitter-friendly ballpark? Not exactly a shrewd solution.

So, yeah, it's easy to see why Fairbanks stayed in a state with warm weather and reunited with former Rays executive Peter Bendix, who is calling the shots in Miami. There are plenty of reasons to be mad, Yankees fans, but this isn't one of them. You're better off enjoying the holidays while they're still lingering.