There are many areas in need of attention on the Yankees roster as they careen from a blistering start into a familiar midseason swoon now to the trading deadline where GM Brian Cashman will try to resurrect what is fast becoming a wayward season. Whatever the Yankees do or do not do about adding to the pitching rotation or fixing the many problems in the lineup around sluggers Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, it is almost certain that the team will bolster the bullpen.
That could mean finding a new closer and moving Clay Holmes to a late-inning setup role. Or it could mean finding another setup man to help Holmes.
The need became clear—as if it wasn’t already—on Friday in the Yankees’ loss to Boston, which saw the Bombers take a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning at Fenway Park. Two walks and four Red Sox hits later, including a home run by Ceddanne Rafaela, and the combo of Luke Weaver and Holmes had conspired to give the Yankees bullpen a blown save and a loss.
The numbers on the Yankees bullpen are not bad, with a 3.66 ERA (ninth in baseball) and a 1.23 WHIP (ninth) but the overall record is just 18-14, and Holmes leads baseball with seven blown saves.
But according to MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post, help may be on the way: Marlins reliever Tanner Scott.
Tanner Scott Was an All-Star This Season
Of course, Scott’s numbers this season—a 1.18 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 45.2 innings, as well as an All-Star appearance—mean that he is a hot commodity here at the MLB trade deadline. There isn’t a contender in baseball today, or perhaps ever, that did not want more bullpen help.
That is an impediment, Heyman writes.
“Looking to enhance their bullpen in a big way, the Yankees are one of six contending teams said prominently involved in trade talks for Marlins All-Star left-hander Tanner Scott, who hasn’t allowed an earned run since June 13 and is the most coveted closer on the market,” he noted.
The Orioles are perhaps the biggest issue in the pursuit of Scott, both because the team is leading the A.L. East and stands clearly in the way of a Yankees division championship, and because Baltimore’s farm system is the envy of baseball, and would allow them to top any offer that the Yankees make for Scott.
The Phillies, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Mariners are also in the mix for Scott.
Yankees Part of a Bidding War?
Scott can be a free agent after this season, which will tamp down the value that the Marlins can get for him on the trade market. There’s no guarantee whomever trades for him will have Scott beyond the next few months.
But he is on a decidedly affordable one-year, $5.7 million contract, and if Miami can create a bidding war, it can do nicely for the ace closer.
The Sporting News ranked Scott among the highest-impact trade candidates this season, and wrote of him:
“It would be a stunner if the Marlins didn’t trade closer Tanner Scott, who has been one of the best relievers in baseball since about the midway point of last season. Scott, a free agent at the end of the year, has a 1.24 ERA and 17 saves for the lowly Marlins in 2024.
“His 3.23 FIP indicates that some regression is likely, but he had a 2.17 FIP, sub-1.00 WHIP, and 12 strikeouts per nine innings last season.”
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