ICYMI: A Few Bullpen Moves

From Bryan Van Dusen seen originally HERE:

Blake Parker, Kirby Yates, and Anthony Swarzak are no longer with the Yankees

Parker and Yates were claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of The United States of... you get the joke, and it's not a good one anyway.

Swarzak elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to the minors.

None of these three will be missed by the Yankees or their fans. That's not to say they weren't good guys or teammates, but Parker's ERA was 4.96 in 16 games, Yates' was 5.23 in 41 appearances, and 5.52 in 26 games.

Yankees Offseason Week in Review

What happened this week during the Yankees offseason? Let's recap what went down:

 -- CC Sabathia will undergo a routine knee surgery this offseason. CC will have his knee cleaned up a bit and this was considered to be scheduled and not a big deal, and I believe the team this time.

 -- Larry Rothschild was the Yankees only free agent to be in the coaching department and the team has already signed him to a new deal for the 2017 season.

 -- Blake Parker and Kirby Yates were claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim while Anthony Swarzak and Eric Young Jr. elected free agency.

 -- James Kaprielian was officially added to the Arizona Fall League roster for the Yankees.

 -- George Steinbrenner has been added as a finalist for the Hall of Fame.

A Few Bullpen Moves

Blake Parker, Kirby Yates, and Anthony Swarzak are no longer with the Yankees

Parker and Yates were claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of The United States of... you get the joke, and it's not a good one anyway.

Swarzak elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to the minors.

None of these three will be missed by the Yankees or their fans. That's not to say they weren't good guys or teammates, but Parker's ERA was 4.96 in 16 games, Yates' was 5.23 in 41 appearances, and 5.52 in 26 games.

Who Should We Blame Last Night's Collapse On?

Last night, the New York Yankees suffered a loss that left a bad taste in fans mouths that tasted like bleach and cow manure. First, before we dig into the stats and look who really is in the blame for this loss, let's look at how in the world the Red Sox wound up winning this game....

The Yankees had a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, almost everybody believed that they had it in the bag, oh little did we all know. Girardi would send Tommy Layne out there to begin the inning and once Chris Young came up to bat (who mashes lefties) , he went to the bullpen and got Blake Parker who looked like he was going to finish the game. Due to the arrival of Layne and Parker, many believed that Betances was unavailable due to how exhausted he is.

Once Parker enters the game he hit Young on the tip of his helmet with a pitch that he leaned into and only hit him by an inch. Then Girardi decides that it would be a swell idea to go to Dellin Betances, who has desperately been in need of some rest due to the maximum overusage. We all know what happens after this, I do not even have to explain it. To put it simply, the Yankees blew the game.

Betances obviously could not locate any of his pitches and after the Pedroia at bat where it was obvious he was not going to swing at any pitches, Girardi should have pulled the plug on Betances right there and bring in someone else, you can't use a guy who relies on control like Betances every single night.

That is why, many people believe the blame for last nights game should be on Dellin Betances but I disagree. I believe Joe Girardi should take the blame 100% for the putrid event that happened last night. Girardi knew that Betances was exhausted which is why he didn't go to him to begin the inning, because he knew that he needed rest. But no, he just thought that it would be a great idea to go to the deadest arm in the bullpen and I wouldn't be shocked at all if Dellin Betances needs tommy john surgery in a few years thanks to how Girardi uses him.

You can't expect a guy like Betances who is a large man and relies on the control for his curveball to pitch EVERY NIGHT despite if he's tired or not. It was a really bad move by Joe. So far in the month of September, Betances has pitched 3 straight days TWICE. It has only been two weeks and Betances has already had to pitch three straight days twice, think about that for a moment.

It also does not help that the Yankees left TWELVE runners on base but that's a different story....

Therefore, The blame for last night's absolute collapse should 98% be on the hands of Girardi, 1% on the offense, and 1% on Betances.


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