The New York Yankees lost two bullpen arms to their crosstown rivals this offseason, when former closer Devin Williams and setup man Luke Weaver both signed as free agents with the New York Mets within three weeks of each other in December. But with spring training now only about a week away, the Yankees have yet to repair their suddenly weakened relief corps.
The Bronx Bombers have had a mostly quiet offseason, with the re-signing of free agent outfielder Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162.5 million deal as the one high-profile move. There are still free agents remaining unsigned, however, and one baseball analyst on Monday wrote that the Yankees should sign a former Los Angeles Dodgers reliever who, when healthy, can be one of the hardest throwers in the game.
Right-hander Michael Kopech, a Boston Red Sox first-round draft pick in 2014, is now 29 years old and coming off a season that was largely lost to multiple injuries. But when he was a 20-year-old, pitching for Boston’s Single-A Advanced Salem affiliate, Kopech made the kind of headlines throughout baseball that low minor leaguers rarely get when his fastball hit 105 mph in a July 2016 game.
But later that same year, the Red Sox traded Kopech — then the No. 5 prospect in the Red Sox system — along with the organization’s No. 1 prospect Yoan Moncada to the Chicago White Sox for lefty ace Chris Sale.
Kopech debuted in 2018, then missed all of 2019 and 2020, first due to injury and then when he opted out of playing as was then permitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. After three more seasons with the White Sox, striking out 342 in 318 innings, Kopech was traded to the Dodgers.
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In the 2024 World Series, Kopech pitched 3 2/3 innings over four games against the Yankees, allowing two earned runs and striking out three.
“Kopech has shown tremendous stuff on his pitches over his career. He is currently mostly a two-pitch pitcher with a fastball that can hit triple digits and a cutter in the low 90s,” wrote analyst Chai Rogers of Just Baseball on Monday. “While Kopech comes with significant injury concerns and poses some risk, he may be one of the best remaining free agent options to help replace the lost velocity and strikeout numbers in the Yankee bullpen.”
When healthy, Kopech can dominate in a short-relief role. In 24 innings over 24 games for the Dodgers in 2024, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Texan recorded a 1.13 ERA with 29 strikeouts against just 10 walks. Coming off his one-year, $5.2 million contract with the Dodgers, Kopech would be a low-cost option with high upside who could easily step into the setup role vacated by the departed Weaver.
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