TAMPA — The New York Yankees pitching staff has arms. The lineup has thunder. Still, one lingering question followed them from the Bronx to Florida. The bullpen, still has a hole that spring training games alone might not fill.
General manager Brian Cashman insisted the Yankees held conversations with multiple relievers this winter. He pushed back on the idea that the organization has a blanket policy against spending on bullpen arms. Yet the results tell a different story. New York watched its two most trusted late-inning options walk across town to the Mets without extending a formal offer to either one.
Devin Williams signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Mets. Luke Weaver landed a two-year, $22 million deal from the same club. The Yankees also passed on Edwin Diaz, who set the record for average annual value for a closer at three years and $69 million with the Dodgers. Robert Suarez, Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Pete Fairbanks all signed elsewhere for $10 million or more per year.
Cashman pointed to timing and budget constraints as factors.
“Two years ago, we were waiting a long time for the Soto situation,” Cashman said last week. “That held up a lot of money, and I’m sure some relievers came off the board. This winter, we were dealing with the Bellinger situation. That took a while. And it’s not like you have an infinite amount of money to deploy.”
Bednar anchors a bullpen full of question marks
David Bednar is the one sure thing. The right-hander took over the closer role after arriving from the Pirates at last summer’s trade deadline and delivered immediately. He went 4-0 with 10 saves and a 2.19 ERA in pinstripes while striking out 36 percent of the hitters he faced. He and Fernando Cruz, who finished fifth in the American League in strikeout rate among pitchers with at least 40 innings, give the Yankees two swing-and-miss weapons at the back end.
After that, uncertainty creeps in fast. Camilo Doval, another deadline acquisition from San Francisco, posted a 4.82 ERA in 18 innings with the Yankees during the regular season. His walk rate ballooned to 12.6 percent. He closed the year strong with five scoreless innings and a 2.70 ERA in the ALDS against Toronto, but ZiPS projects a 3.64 ERA for 2026, a line that would place him in middle-relief territory.
Tim Hill has been steady since joining the Yankees from the White Sox in June 2024. His 2.68 ERA in 111 innings over the past year and a half is quietly excellent. But right-handed hitters posted an .836 OPS against the lefty specialist last season. That is a problem in a league stacked with right-handed bats.
Beyond the top four names, the Yankees are banking on lottery tickets. Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest. Angel Chivilli, acquired from the Rockies after a 7.06 ERA last season. Waiver claim Osvaldo Bido. Non-roster invitees Rafael Montero and Dylan Coleman. SNY identified Jake Bird as a potential bounce-back candidate who could capture one of the few open bullpen spots. Bird, 30, made just three appearances with the Yankees after his deadline acquisition last year before being optioned to Triple-A, but a strong spring could change his trajectory.
Swingmen Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn were re-signed on small-money deals and add cheap innings and role versatility. Blackburn’s surface numbers were ugly in 2025. He posted a 5.28 ERA with the Yankees, but his expected ERA sat at just 2.92, a gap that suggests better days could be ahead. If the rotation stays healthy and Gerrit Cole or Carlos Rodon returns in May, one of the young starters could shift to the bullpen and add another arm to the mix.
“We do think we have a lot of talented players,” Cashman said. “There’s a lot of quality, talented arms with various levels of experience, some raw.”
One trade could reshape the entire relief picture
Multiple outlets have pointed to a bullpen trade as the missing piece of the Yankees’ winter. SI’s Delilah Bourque wrote this week that relief pitcher remains the one position New York should address through a deal before Opening Day on March 25 against the Giants. With Jasson Dominguez lacking a clear everyday role and spring training cuts still weeks away, Bourque suggested the Yankees could package the outfielder in a deal while his prospect value remains high.
Houston Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu emerged as a trade target worth monitoring. Abreu, 28, owns a career 2.79 ERA and was a key weapon in Houston’s 2022 championship run. The Astros have signaled a willingness to move established arms in exchange for young talent, and the Yankees have expendable outfield depth that could interest Houston.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer identified free agent Michael Kopech as another option, calling the Yankees the “best fit” for the 29-year-old World Series champion. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported in January that New York had already checked in on the hard-throwing right-hander. Kopech averaged 97.5 mph on his fastball despite shoulder and knee injuries that limited him to just 11 innings in 2025. When healthy with the Dodgers in 2024, he posted a 1.13 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 24 innings.
The free-agent route carries risk. Kopech has been on the injured list in each of the past three seasons. But he is not the only option still available. SI’s Yankees outlet identified left-hander Danny Coulombe and right-hander Scott Barlow as additional free-agent relievers worth pursuing. Coulombe posted a 2.30 ERA in 55 appearances between the Twins and Rangers last season and owns a 2.64 ERA in 170 2/3 innings since 2021. He would form a potent lefty tandem with Hill. Barlow has carved out a career as a reliable middle reliever and could benefit from the Yankees’ pitching staff refining his command.
Still, the trade market could yield a more dependable arm than any remaining free agent, and the clock is ticking with Opening Night just over five weeks away.
Yankees betting on Matt Blake to mine bullpen gold again
The Yankees are not oblivious to the risk. They simply believe their pitching development machine can compensate. Pitching coach Matt Blake and director of pitching Sam Briend have a track record of turning overlooked arms into productive relievers. Clay Holmes went from struggling in Pittsburgh to an All-Star closer in the Bronx. Weaver reinvented himself as a postseason hero in 2024 after years of mediocrity. Ian Hamilton became a trusted weapon in 2023 as a non-roster invitee.
Cashman also floated the idea of pitching prospects filling bullpen roles. Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez, the team’s top young arms, are scheduled to start. But Cashman acknowledged the bullpen could come calling.
“You gotta rob Peter to pay Paul at times,” Cashman said. “A lot of major league starters historically break in out of the pen when they get their feet wet.”
That is a contingency plan, not a solution. Pinstripe Alley’s analysis put it bluntly: Bednar is the only safe bet in the entire bullpen, with a case for Tim Hill as the second. Every other arm requires some degree of projection, bounce-back, or faith.
Six years and counting since the Yankees paid big for a reliever
The Yankees have not committed significant free-agent money to a reliever since January 2019, when they signed Zack Britton to a three-year, $39 million deal and Adam Ottavino to a three-year, $27 million pact. That is a remarkable stretch for a franchise that has surpassed $300 million in payroll for three consecutive seasons.
“There’s not an organizational policy, I guess to answer your question, about ‘don’t pay relievers a certain amount of money,'” Cashman said. “We’ve had our fair share over the course of my years here that we’ve paid a lot of money to, whether it’s the closer role or setup role or what have you. It’s just how it shook out this winter, but it’s not any policy, per se.”
One anonymous agent told the New York Daily News that his agency did not operate as if the Yankees would be uninterested in upper-tier relievers this winter. The interest was assumed. The spending never materialized.
The Yankees led the American League in runs, home runs and OPS last season. The offense is set. The rotation, when healthy, has frontline talent in Gerrit Cole and Max Fried. But the bullpen remains the roster’s most glaring vulnerability. A single trade, executed before the Grapefruit League schedule wraps up, could be the move that defines whether this winter was shrewd or shortsighted.
Bednar cannot do it alone. The Yankees know that. The question is whether they act on it before the games start counting.
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