Yankees' victimize offseason bullpen fit in clutch extra-inning win over Guardians

As a whole, the New York Yankees' bullpen has not been overly impressive in 2026. That isn't a huge surprise, as the only two external additions made over the offseason were former and now current St. Louis Cardinals' farmhand Cade Winquest and the recently promoted Angel Chivilli. Essentially, this is the same group that disappointed us last season.

Brian Cashman insists that there's no organizational mandate to avoid spending big on relievers, but his behavior in recent years suggests otherwise. Even with that said, the Yankees didn't just avoid handing out a big contract to a reliever; they avoided signing anyone from the outside at all, even when there were affordable options. One such arm who looked to be a good investment was former Texas Ranger Shawn Armstrong.

Last December, Armstrong agreed to a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Cleveland Guardians. That's not exactly breaking-the-bank kind of money. Coming off a 2.31 ERA campaign, he seemed like an undervalued find. Now, he's proving that to be the case, with a 2.08 ERA over 8 2/3 innings and nine appearances. He's been worth 0.4 WAR.

Shawn Armstrong could have solved the Yankees' middle relief revolving door

But on Monday night, the front office might've received some validation after passing on the right-hander. Armstrong took the loss in the Yankees' clutch win over the Guardians in extras. He allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and two walks. On the year, though, he owns a solid 3.50 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 4.16 FIP with 20 strikeouts in 18 innings. That'd be helping New York at the moment.

The Yanks have already experienced some turmoil in the middle innings portion of its relief corps. After hyping Jake Bird up all offseason, the club watched him put up an uneven spring and quickly falter as the regular season kicked off, earning a swift demotion that feels as if there's some finality to the decision.

Yerry De Los Santos was up from Scranton just long enough to shake his teammates' hands, as his purpose was simply to provide length and let the group grab a breather. The Yankees then turned to Chivilli, who looked overmatched in spring training and owns a career 6.18 ERA over 90 1/3 innings. He didn't long either, especially after Mike Trout destroyed him, before going d own with an injury.

The rest of the middle relievers feature Brent Headrick, who has pitched incredibly well, but his extreme utilization poses the threat of burnout. Whether or not that's part of the Yankees' "strategy" (essentially burning his arm to call up a youngster later on in the season when he fades) is up in the air.

Then there's Tim Hill, who is a pillar of stability, but will be called upon more and more in high-leverage situations with Camilo Doval struggling. Ditto for Fernando Cruz, who is more or less in the same boat.

As you can see, the options aren't aplenty, and the Yankees could've used an experienced veteran with proven success in recent years. Armstrong could have filled that role for cheap and, as he's showing in Cleveland, he would have filled it well. But at least he didn't make the Yankees look silly in Monday night's dramatic win.

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