NEW YORK — The Yankees acquired Jake Bird last summer to steady their bullpen. Nearly a year later, he has become one of its biggest liabilities, and his time in pinstripes appears to be running out.
A roster crunch on the horizon, combined with Bird’s ongoing struggles, has put the right-hander squarely on the bubble. The Yankees have several arms ready to take his spot, and the math is working against him.
A trade that never paid off
Bird arrived as part of the Yankees’ 2025 deadline push to fix the bullpen. General manager Brian Cashman acquired him from the Colorado Rockies, along with David Bednar from the Pirates and Camilo Doval from the Giants.
The plan did not work. None of the three lived up to expectations down the stretch, and the Yankees fell short of a title. Bird in particular flopped after the trade, allowing six earned runs and two homers over four innings across two outings for a 27.00 ERA before being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was recalled in September but did not throw a single postseason inning.
The numbers keep getting worse
Bird’s 2026 season has followed a frustrating, up-and-down pattern for the Yankees. He opened with 4 1/3 scoreless innings and a win across his first four appearances, then unraveled with a 13.50 ERA over his next six games, a stretch that included two blown saves and a loss.
A strong three-week run in May, when he posted a 1.23 ERA with four holds, offered hope. It did not hold. In his last six outings before Monday’s off day, Bird carried a 7.71 ERA, allowing four earned runs and two homers on seven hits while walking three and hitting a batter.
His latest stumble came Sunday, when he blew another save against the Blue Jays. That was his third blown save of the season, one shy of the Royals’ Lucas Erceg, who leads the majors with five.
Where Bird ranks among Yankees relievers
The broader picture shows just how far Bird has fallen for the Yankees. Through 27 games and 21 innings, he owns a 5.14 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP, with opponents hitting .273 against his sinker and slugging .833 against his curveball, according to Baseball Savant.
The table below shows how Bird stacks up against the other arms in the Yankees bullpen this season, sorted by ERA, per ESPN. The figures reflect a season snapshot and update after each game.
| Name | GP | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | K | WAR | WHIP | ERA | R | HR | OBA |
| Brent Headrick RP | 35 | 33.2 | 30 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 37 | 1.3 | 1.31 | 1.87 | 8 | 2 | 0.238 |
| Fernando Cruz RP | 34 | 31.1 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 19 | 40 | 1.2 | 1.24 | 2.01 | 8 | 2 | 0.182 |
| Paul Blackburn RP | 20 | 30.1 | 30 | 10 | 2 | 11 | 21 | 0.5 | 1.35 | 2.97 | 11 | 2 | 0.261 |
| Ryan Yarbrough RP | 14 | 23.1 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 18 | 0.3 | 1.11 | 3.47 | 9 | 1 | 0.186 |
| David Bednar RP | 29 | 29.2 | 29 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 36 | 0.2 | 1.38 | 3.64 | 15 | 2 | 0.248 |
| Angel Chivilli RP | 2 | 2.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.14 | 3.86 | 1 | 1 | 0.222 |
| Tim Hill RP | 33 | 27.1 | 26 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 0.2 | 1.17 | 3.95 | 14 | 3 | 0.25 |
| Kervin Castro RP | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 0.25 |
| Camilo Doval RP | 31 | 26.2 | 26 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 25 | -0.1 | 1.16 | 5.06 | 15 | 4 | 0.252 |
| Jake Bird RP | 26 | 21 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 24 | -0.1 | 1.43 | 5.14 | 12 | 3 | 0.28 |
The contrast is stark. While Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill have anchored the unit with sparkling numbers, and Bednar and Doval have steadied themselves in recent weeks, Bird sits near the bottom in ERA, WHIP, and opponent batting average.
A roster squeeze is coming
Performance alone might not force the issue, but the calendar will. The Yankees have a wave of pitching set to return or arrive, and someone has to lose a spot.
Ace Max Fried, who has been out with a bone bruise in his elbow, could be back as soon as July. His return would push the rotation to a surplus and likely shift left-hander Ryan Weathers into a relief role, adding another arm to the bullpen mix.
Top prospect Carlos Lagrange has also been moved to the bullpen at Triple-A and could join the big club soon, throwing triple digits. Yovanny Cruz, already on the 40-man roster, is another internal option who has logged scoreless innings for the Yankees this year.
The likely path to a move
With so many arms ahead of him, Bird’s roster spot is in jeopardy for the Yankees. The team has a couple of clear avenues to part ways with him.
Bird still has minor league options remaining, so the Yankees could send him back to Triple-A without losing him outright. The other route is designating him for assignment, which would remove him from the 40-man roster entirely.
Finding a trade partner appears unlikely. It is hard to imagine another club giving up anything for a 30-year-old reliever in the middle of a rough season, which points toward an option or a designation rather than a deal.
A bullpen still chasing answers
Moving on from Bird would be one piece of a larger bullpen overhaul for the Yankees. The relief corps has been a season-long concern with the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching.
Beyond the internal candidates, the Yankees are expected to scan the market for help, with names like the Cardinals’ Riley O’Brien, the Royals’ David Lynch IV, and the Marlins’ Pete Fairbanks among those discussed as possible targets. The deadline sits roughly seven weeks out.
For now, the most immediate decision centers on Bird. With Fried nearing a return, Weathers headed for the pen, and Lagrange knocking on the door, the Yankees appear ready to turn the page on a reliever who never found his footing in New York.
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