New York is Stock Piling Fire Balling LHP in the Bullpen

The New York Yankees made two acquisitions on Wednesday that left many scratching their heads a bit. The team signed minor league free agent Jose De Paula out of the San Francisco Giants organization. De Paula is a left handed throwing power pitcher that has been a starting pitcher his whole career but could be destined to the bullpen before long. De Paula has one minor league option remaining and could start his Yankees career serving as depth in Triple-A with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Before the ink was dry on that signing New York traded backup catcher Francisco Cervelli to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Justin (not Josh, although I called him Josh about 19 times of Twitter) Wilson. Wilson is another power left handed arm that can hit 95 with two different fastballs and can touch the low 90’s with is cutter. Wilson is pre-arbitration in 2014 before hitting his arbitration years in 2015 and could also serve as minor league depth for the Yankees in Triple-A to start the season.

Adding Wilson and De Paula to the already growing group of left handed power throwing pitchers in Manny Banuelos, Jacob Lindgren, James Pazos, and Tyler Webb leaves the Yankees and manager Joe Girardi with a ton of left handed power bullpen arms to call upon this season and next.

If you look at the 2014 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants and specifically examine their bullpens you see a pair of pens stockpiled with young flame throwing arms that can come in, touch 100 MPH, and strike a guy or three out when necessary. This looks to be the model the Yankees are following as well going forward which could mean good things in 2015 for a starting rotation that will be littered with question marks and concerns all season long.