Yankees Likely To Lose Bullpen Option

The Yankees could soon lose one of their options for the bullpen, as Ernesto Frieri can opt-out of his contract tomorrow. I'm assuming that the 31 year old isn't interested in remaining in the minor leagues and will opt out. But who knows? Dwight and the rest of the crew at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch seemed to like the place, so maybe it's grown on Ernesto too.

Some of you may remember Frieri as one of the better relievers in the game. At the same time you'll remember that that was back in 2012. Sure, Ernesto saved 37 games for the Angels in 2013, but he relied on the strikeout while giving up his fair share of home runs leading to a not-so-good closer ERA of 3.80.

The last time we saw Frieri in the Majors was in 2015 with the Rays, and he was far from his 2012 self. His strikeout rate dropped from a career-high 13.4 to 7.3, he was walking more batters, and giving up more home runs. At an age when a lot of players are really hitting their stride, Frieri's career certainly was not looking up.

After Ernesto took 2016 off the Yankees made a "what the hell" decision and signed him to a minor league deal, with an opt-out for June 1st. On the surface Frieri looks pretty good in AAA... 2.25 ERA, 0.950 WHIP, 10.4 K/9. But is it enough that I think the Yankees should demote somebody from the current Active Roster to make room for the guy? I don't think so.

That's not to say Tommy Layne hasn't been bad, however Layne is a lefty unlike Frieri. Bryan Mitchell hasn't done much with his 12.1 innings this season, but he's extremely versatile as he can do everything from pitching to one batter to starting a game. I wouldn't call Jonathan Holder "dominant", but I like what I've seen for the most part from the 24 year old.

With how Ernesto has thrown in AAA I'm sure there's some team in MLB that will give the guy a shot in the big leagues again.