Throughout this offseason, the main focus of both the New York Yankees and their fans has been the campaign to resign D.J. LeMahieu. And with good reason, too. LeMahieu has hit .336 since joining the Yankees in 2019 and finished within the top 5 in AL MVP voting both years.
However, a gap at second base isn’t the only hole in the Yankees’ roster. After Gerrit Cole, it is certainly no secret that the Yanks’ starting rotation is full of question marks. With arms like Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton on the open market, the Bronx Bombers are not exactly dealing with a surplus of pitching at the moment.
While the Yanks are not likely to spend big money on a starter like Trevor Bauer, the team is almost too perfect of a fit for a pitcher like Corey Kluber.
Kluber, despite throwing just one inning last season, would be a relatively low-risk move for the Yankees. This is partly because he only threw one inning last season. He struggled in 2019, his last season in Cleveland. Kluber was then traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder Delino DeShields, Jr. and pitching prospect Emmanuel Clase.
However, the potential for Kluber is well-realized. In his prime, “Klubot” was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Even at this point, he’s only several years removed from a campaign in which he recorded a 2.89 ERA and finished third in AL Cy Young voting (2018). He was the winner of the award in both 2014 and 2017 and recorded a 2.85 ERA during his time in Cleveland.
The Yankee Connection
On Wednesday, Kluber reportedly threw in front of representatives from 25 of the 30 MLB teams. He sat 88-90 mph with his fastball, and early returns on his offspeed pitches were promising as well. In his prime, the right-hander typically sat anywhere from 92-94. This makes his current velocity an extremely encouraging sign, with still over a month until Spring Training is set to begin.
The Yankees were unsurprisingly one of the teams in attendance, but their link to Kluber actually goes even deeper. His bullpen was thrown at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. C.S.P. is run by Eric Cressey, who is currently the Yankees’ director of health and performance. Cressey has also been leading Kluber through his rehab sessions throughout the offseason. Theoretically, no team will be more in tune with the health of Kluber than the Bombers.
In the currently-depressed free agency market, potential contracts for players like Kluber are likely not going to be as expensive as they would during a non-pandemic offseason. This gives the Yankees an opportunity to buy relatively low on an arm that arguably has more potential than any other available pitcher.
Realistically, the Yankees (or another team) could grab Kluber on a one-year deal, worth anywhere from $10-13 million. For even more incentive, we could potentially see a team option for a second season. This would likely be based on how Kluber’s arm holds up during the 2021 campaign.
Clearly, many teams are interested in signing the right-hander (for good reason). However, the former ace arguably fits in the Bronx better than anywhere else.