MLB New York Yankees

New York Yankees’ Interest in Jason Grilli is Puzzling but Could Make Sense

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By @chriswgamble

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The New York Yankees need a closer. David Robertson is a free agent and so far hasn’t been re-signed. Sure, they have Dellin Betances but taking him out of the role he thrived in last season as the fireman who comes in to kill rallies would hurt the team more than help. Re-signing Robertson should still be the plan and efforts should be made until he signs on the dotted line with either the Yankees or another team.

There have been a few rumors that the Yankees are looking at other options, possibly to replace Robertson if he should leave. Among those options is Jason Grilli. Grilli, 38, is coming off of a year that saw him lose his job as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ closer and get shipped off to the Los Angeles Angels.

Grilli posted a combined 4.00 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 1.33 WHIP and 12 saves in 54 innings last year. He saw a huge decline in his strikeout rate from 36.6 percent in 2013 to 24.3 percent last year.

While Grilli does have experience closing out games, it is hard to see him replacing David Robertson. Hopefully, the Yankees see Grilli as an option in the late innings but someone to rely on when Betances and Robertson are not available. Essentially, filling the role Shawn Kelley had early in the 2014 season or Adam Warren did later. Asking Grilli to take over the closer’s role would be far from ideal.

The Yankees’ bullpen would be at its best if they had someone like Grilli joining Warren in getting the ball to Betances who hands off to Robertson. It would allow the Yankees to keep Betances to one inning for the most part instead of having him throw two innings at a time. This would allow him to be available in more games. It would also shorten the game for the Yankees as the starter would only have to throw five or six quality innings and then can hand the ball off to someone like Warren, Grilli, Betances or Robertson.

Adding Grilli wouldn’t be a bad idea. Adding him as a replacement for Robertson would be a mistake.

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