Yankees & Mets have key decisions to make with free agent relievers | The Show

Yankees & Mets have key decisions to make with free agent relievers | The Show

Joel Sherman back for three things. Um, still in Los Angeles. Uh, wrapping up this portion of the World Series. Uh, and we’re wrapping up our five-part series on the main, uh, free agents for the two New York teams. Uh we hit the uh the major ones. Alonzo Diaz Mets. Uh Bellinger Gisham for the Yankees. And now we’re going to use today uh three things to kind of go through uh the cases for a lot of uh of the rest of the second and third level uh guys who are about to become free agents for the Mets and Yankees. And uh number one uh I I find that the relievers who probably thought they were going to get a lot more money than they’re going to uh in March, the reality of today are interesting. So number one, let’s make the case for uh Devin Williams, uh Luke uh Weaver, and Ryan Hley. Essentially, the case is uh it’s a volatile job, and six months ago, these guys were all looking at multi-year deals. I think in the case of Devin Williams, a really big multi-year deal and that there are narratives you could create on all them. Let’s start with Devin Williams, who finished actually strong for the Yankees, but had by far his worst seasons. He had a lot of still good underlying numbers. Top of the sport strikeout rates, top of the sport uh swing and miss rates, uh stuff that organizations like uh and pay for. So, he has that. Uh Luke Weaver for most of the last two years was the Yankees best relief pitcher. Uh he had really bad lols this year. Uh and you could believe that he was pitch tipping and that that’s correctable. Uh if you do, maybe Luke Weaver’s in line for something. Uh Ryan Helley was good, pretty good for the Cardinals. The problems all came in New York. If you think this is a guy uh you’re you’re a market a much smaller market than say New York or LA uh Boston, Philadelphia, and you want to go for a big arm, uh perhaps you could think Ryan Helley’s problems were really centered about the big city. Uh number two, let’s do the case against those three guys. Uh I said it before, relief pitching is volatile. It’s possible that uh they that these guys are now in a bad funk. Uh Williams, whatever his underlying numbers were, they were still worse strikeout rate of his career and lots of other issues that were worst of his career. Helley was not great in St. Louis the way he had been in previous years and then it just crated cratered in New York. So perhaps you don’t love him because of that. and and Luke Weaver, I think even at his best, is going to be very home run susceptible. And he was really home run susceptible this year. Uh I think all of these guys are looking at one-year make good contracts. Uh why don’t we do this for number three? Do them and some of the other New York guys. I think all these guys would I be shocked if someone got a two, maybe even a three-year deal. I I don’t do shock that well. Uh you know, in baseball. I I’m always prepared for uh the unexpected. But traditionally, these kind of relievers, I think, do one-year deals, try to prove that they were the guys they were in the past, and then go back in the market next off season and try to kill it a little bit. Uh they end up, I think, on teams that are willing to roll the d that need late inning help and are willing to roll the dice that these guys still have it. If I’m making a cursory list of and I I think those teams would want to be contenders, teams like say Arizona and Texas who fancy that they could and maybe should make the playoffs next year and go into this off season without big budgets but with needs late in the bullpen. Those are the kind of teams I could see rolling the dice on this. Let me roll through some people who I do like on the New York teams for uh in free agency. not not specifically maybe for the New York squads, but but in general and maybe for the New York teams. Uh they were all Mets last year. Uh Tyler Rogers uh was the one uh reliever. Sodto and Helsley didn’t pitch well for the Mets. Rogers did. And I think Rogers is who Rogers is. Uh he’s perhaps the most durable reliever in the sport. I know one day that will stop, but if you’re gambling on who will throw 50 60 games next year, he’s a good gamble. uh he doesn’t walk anybody. He doesn’t give up home runs and he was miscast with the Mets because the Mets infield wasn’t very good. If you’re you’re signing Tyler Rogers who has top of the sport ground ball numbers to me to me you have to have a strong defense and if you do I think you get the best out of Tyler Rogers. Griffin Kaning you might have forgotten about him late June he uh ruptured his Achilles tendon. Um, his agents are telling me he’s going to be a full go for the season. Uh, I thought he was making strides towards uh, a consistent mid-rotation guy. Uh, and that there might even be a little more ceiling to grow there. My concern is he’s kind of a springy athletic type and this is an Achilles injury. But still, this might be the kind of guy you could do a two-year deal with. Uh, and think of that first year as a build up uh, back up after the Achilles injury, and you’re really going for it in 27. I think he is a worthwhile gamble. Uh, number three is Stling Marte. I know he turn just turned 37 uh, earlier this month, but he’s a pro. Uh, he’s always in shape. Uh, he handled a switch to a lesser role. I thought well this year and was one of the leaders of a Met team that had some leadership issues. Um I if you’re willing to understand this is a 300 to 400 plate appearance guy. He might have an IIL stint or two during the year, but he can still really hit. If you’re going to use him as a DH, you got to have power elsewhere in your lineup. But I still think he could hit. I think he could come off the bench and I think he helps you in a depth capacity if you’re a good team uh among Yankees. Uh I want to point out to close this off two guys who I think are interesting. One is Ahmad Rosario who they acquired uh at the trade deadline. Rosario has never hit less than 284 in a full season against lefty pitching. He didn’t this year. It was up over 300 302 up over 800 os versus lefties. uh he could play second or third. He can go to the outfield if you’re desperately need it. And he is a guy, if you think about the Yankees for next season, they’re going to have to add a player or keep a player in Rosario’s case, who hits right-handed, who can play a few positions. I think it was heightened by the fact that uh José Caballiero is probably going to begin the season as their shortstop unless they surprise us and sign somebody or make a trade for a shortstop. Anthony Vulp is going to miss the beginning of the season after shoulder surgery. So, Caballierro’s depth as that right-handed movearound guy isn’t there. Uh, Oswaldo Cabrera will be coming back from his uh traumatic leg injury. Uh, but Rosario is the kind of guy who can, you know, against a tough lefty. He fills in for Ryan McMahon, etc. Uh, so I could see that he’s at least going to be on the Yankees short list of people to do that. is others like somebody like uh Rob Rev Snider who plays the outfield uh you know to be uh the guy against left-hand pitching and you have Cabrera as the guy who moves through the infield as a switch hitter. Uh he could be the righty guy that that that kind of player. Um and the last guy I’ll mention is Ryan Yarrow. Um he was on a good role uh as a starting pitcher with the Yankees when he hurt his oblique. Uh by the time he came back September 1st, he never really got it rolling again. never got a role. But just as I think about the Yankees and again like Vulpi, they have some injuries in Rodan and Cole where they don’t have starters to begin the season, but they think they’re going to be back like Vulpi at some point earlyish in the year. And in that situation, um they’re going to need to sign somebody or trade for somebody this off season who could start. Now, that could be somebody who just starts, but I do remember in Aaron Boon saying uh in his postseason press conference, I think it was Boone. Boon and Cashman both talked that day. And in my mind’s eye, it’s Boon. Um that you got to be careful because when Rodan and Cole come back, they’re going in the rotation. And if you’ve signed, say, somebody who can’t move to the bullpen or doesn’t have options, uh you start to deal with a numbers issue. Uh, and obviously Yarboro has spent a career flexing between the rotation and the bullpen, and he had some success with the Yankees last year, and I wonder if he ends up being a target uh for them to fill that role uh, you know, kind of a hybrid role for them again in 2026. Anyway, that’s the wrap-up of this. Uh, I appreciate everybody who joined us on three things as we went through the major New York uh, free agents.

On this edition of ‘Joel Sherman’s 3 Things’ Joel breaks down the key free agent relievers for both the Mets and Yankees and why there are cases for and against Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Ryan Helsley.

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