General Manager Brian Cashman made several moves to help boost the New York Yankees bullpen ahead of this year's MLB trade deadline. Unfortunately, the immediate returns have not been encouraging. The good news for fans in the Bronx is that a sneaky free agent move could be just what the team need to improve their ability to hold late-inning leads in the coming weeks.
Ryan Pressly is one bullpen arm who is available on the open market with the right combination of talent and experience to help the Yankees.
Ryan Pressly could help Yankees fix bullpen woes
The Cubs cut him loose earlier this year after the veteran posted a 4.35 ERA in over 40 innings of work. It's worth noting that his ERA was spiked by one particular bad outing, where he gave up eight runs against the Giants without recording a single out.
Pressly is not going to conjure up memories of Mariano Rivera in the Bronx, but he could prove to be a meaningful upgrade over what Devin Williams gave the franchise as a high-leverage reliever before he lost the job to Luke Weaver. The latter is arguably more value to Boone as a multi-inning option. Williams has been relegated to an early inning role after posting an ugly 5.48 ERA in his first 50 games of the season.
At the very least, Pressly has a solid track record that suggests he can give the Yankees one more quality option in the sixth or seventh inning. Mark Leiter Jr's return gives Boone one more option there, but it's not as if he's been invincible. Pressley would give the organization a valuable insurance policy in case the likes of Jonathan Loaisiga and Fernando Cruz don't make it back to the active roster before the postseason arrives.
At 36 years of age, Pressly isn't a long-term solution for the Yankees' bullpen woes but that isn't what Cashman can find in free agency at this late stage of the campaign. Signing an experienced reliever like Pressly with legitimate playoff experience in mid-August could be a shrewd addition for a team desperate to make the playoffs. Signing him won't be a seismic transaction for the Yankees but it could earn them a valuable win or two down the stretch.