MLB Trade Rumors: New York Yankees Interested in Trade for Jonathan Papelbon
According to CSN Philly's Jim Salisbury, the Phillies are looking to get rid of Papelbon and his lucrative deal. Papelbon, who signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Phillies in 2011, went 5-1 with 2.92 ERA and 29 saves last season. But with the Phillies looking to move in a different direction, Papelbon and the rest of the pitching squad have become susceptible to trades.
The Phillies are "selling the crap out of [Papelbon]. The Phillies are willing to pay some of Papelbon's salary to facilitate a trade," wrote Salisbury.
The Yankees are still searching for a successor for recently retired closer Mariano Rivera. According to a league insider, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is reportedly looking to make a deal for Papelbon, who has two years left in his current deal.
Would seem to make sense if it's not going to take much in return AND be willing to pay part of his salary. It's only 2 years and if they can't find starters the next best thing is to stock up on the bullpen. Trade for Papelbon and sign Benoit to go with Robertson and you could make it potentially a 6 inning game type of scenario again (obviously assuming they all pan out).
Yankees free agent target: Joaquin Benoit
Many teams' bullpens change from year to year, but the Yankees' bullpen appears destined to have an overhaul unlike any they have had in years. For the first time in 17 years, they will have a new closer going into Spring Training. In fact, Joe Girardi recently told Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Barbarisi that the only "sure things" to be in the bullpen for 2014 are David Robertson, Shawn Kelley, and Preston Claiborne. Teams typically carry seven-man bullpens, so there are several more spots to fill in the 'pen, and frankly, they can do better than Claiborne and his 6.53 second half ERA third on the depth chart.There are only so many internal options at the moment aside from rotation candidates David Phelps and Adam Warren. David Huff is a lefty but not particularly impressive, and although Dellin Betances and Cesar Cabral are intriguing, they have only pitched about 11 combined major league innings.
Although he has closing experience, one plus that Benoit has going for him that the Yankees might like is that he doesn't seem like the type of guy who would demand to be closer over Robertson, the likely heir to Rivera's throne.
Like Kelley, Benoit also gets more than his share of strikeouts to work out of jams; he ended 2013 with a +3.85 WPA, the fourth-highest total for MLB relievers. It should be noted that similar to RBI, WPA for relievers should be taken with a grain of salt according to Baseball Prospectus writer-turned-Astros statistician Colin Wyers since the relievers do not control the circumstances of the game before they enter it, but it's still comforting to know that when inserted into these tough situations, Benoit got the job done far more often than not. His strikeout potential has helped him in these efforts, inducing a swing and a miss on 13.6% of his pitches. Benoit's greatest weapon is his changeup, which was worth a remarkable 4.9 runs above average last year by Pitch F/X measures.
Other than a blip last season, Benoit's been terrific in the postseason as well. He throws strikes, he throws hard and, like Papelbon, is used to throwing under pressure. Also like Papelbon he has closing experience.
