New York Yankees fans have been calling for bullpen reinforcements for … a year now? A year and a half ever since Clay Holmes’ demise took hold? They’ve gotten some here and there, but not enough to form a respectable, cohesive unit the last two seasons.
Heading into 2026, the same questions remain, but Brian Cashman and the front office are trying. On Thursday night the Yankees signed veteran reliever Rafael Montero, who has been downright bad since 2023 with the exception of a 20-game stint with the Tigers in 2025.
It is a minor-league deal, according to Hector Gomez, and Montero can earn $1.8 million if he makes the MLB roster. And he very much has a lane to do so because the Yankees’ bullpen has a lot to prove during spring training and the first month of the season.
Outside of his 2019 stint with the Texas Rangers and banner year with the Houston Astros in 2022 (which earned him a massive contract that blew up in Jim Crane’s face), Montero has not had a good career. He’s been worth -0.3 WAR across 380 games and owns a 4.68 ERA, 4.27 FIP and 1.45 WHIP since debuting in 2014.
In 2025 he spent time with the Astros, Braves and Tigers, the latter of whom acquired him at the trade deadline with hopes of building pitching staff depth. Montero had over a 5.00 ERA in his 38 1/3 innings with Houston and Atlanta, but then rebounded to finish with a 2.86 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in his final 22 innings with Detroit.
Whatever pitching coach Chris Fetter was able to do helped Montero limit hits, but his walk rate remained the biggest problem (he ranked in the bottom 1% of the league in that category). And oddly enough, the rest of his Baseball Savant page was largely red, meaning there’s plenty of evidence at the Yankees’ disposal to further save him.
It’s not the route many had hoped for. Again, the fewer reclamation projects, the better. The Yankees can’t afford to be tossing experiment after experiment on the mound in crucial moments — and that’s where far too many of these pitchers have found themselves over the last couple years.
But perhaps Montero emphasizing his newfound split-finger could be the answer here. He’s still got good velocity (95 MPH average on his fastball) and his slider has seen improvement over the last two years. Pitching coach Matt Blake already has his blueprint.
Should Montero bounce back in pinstripes and the Yankees step in front of the Astros regarding a hypothetical trade, it’d be a great 2-for-1 stick it to Houston moment.