Monday, the Yankees made news by acquiring John Schreiber from the Kansas City Royals.  The move received almost universally positive reviews.  Schreiber has struggled a little this year with his walk/strikeout ratio, but he still has a 3.65 ERA and opposing hitters are only batting .232 against him.  He has also been extremely tough on right-handed hitters who have a .143/.184/.231 slash line against him (but the Yankees shouldn’t use him against left-handed hitters who turn into Aaron Judge: .326/.442/.581).  He has also had an above-average ERA+ the past six seasons, so he is consistent.  The bigger question, though, is how did we get here?  Why are the Yankees adding relievers left and right?

The Yankees bullpen has been great

Let’s start with the basics.  The Yankees have had an excellent bullpen all season.  The bullpen ERA of 3.08 leads the league.  The Yankees found gold with Paul Blackburn and Brett Headrick.  The bullpen was injury-free up until All-Star break.  I was surprised to learn that not a single reliever went to the injured list prior to All-Star break.  That is unheard of for relievers, and it helped lead to a consistent group down in the bullpen (minus the last slot, which was a revolving door to get fresh arms).

Yankees subtracted at the trade deadline

This is what gets a lot of fans mad.  The Yankees didn’t acquire any relievers at the trade deadline.  Not only didn’t they add, but they traded away three bullpen arms at the deadline: Camilo Doval (who has found himself on the Pittsburgh Pirates), Jake Bird (who has been decent for the Washington Nationals), and Yovanny Cruz (who has been awful for those same Nationals).  The Yankees made these trades because of the perceived roster crunch for when either Will Warren or Ryan Weathers would be pushed to the bullpen, and when Clarke Schmidt returns (which still has not happened yet).  The Yankees also appeared to have found a diamond in the rough with Angel Chivilli, who was lights out through the end of July: 15 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 1 earned run, 4 walks, and 16 strikeouts. 

The injuries happened

But then, of course, the injuries happened.  First, Chivili got hurt after being destroyed by the Cardinals, and that took away a guy that the Yankees were beginning to use as a setup man.  Next, came the loss of Kervin Castro, who looked great in 5 games with only 5 baserunners allowed in 6.1 innings, 1 run, and 8 strikeouts. Then, most importantly, came the loss of Fernando Cruz, who struggled lately but still had a 3.13 ERA and was in the circle of trust.  That is three open positions in the bullpen, and the Yankees had to go to the scrap heap to find replacements (also, Carlos Lagrange got hurt in AAA, and they were eyeing him to be a reliever).   Perhaps more significantly, Ryan Weathers got hurt, which means he couldn’t help out in the bullpen either.

I have consistently said that the Yankees didn’t need reliever help at the trade deadline.  Why?  They really didn’t have any space for an additional reliever as they were looking at a surplus of options.  As luck would have it, that is no longer the case.  The Yankees need Schreiber to contribute, as Tim Hill is now fourth in the pecking order.  They are also hoping Luis Gil can help out.  Sadly, a month after the deadline, the Yankees bullpen is now a big area of concern.