Call To Arms: In House Options

A few weeks ago I addressed the free agents and trade targets the Yankees could have inquired about to help improve their depleted bullpen. Since the only two of those players mentioned earlier (Latroy Hawkins, Jonathan Albaladejo) has been added to the bullpen, that means the Yankees will have to rely heavily on their current in house options for the bullpen. Hawkins looks like the favorite to enter the season as Mariano Rivera’s primary set up man, but he may have to earn Girardi’s trust before that happens. Kyle Farnsworth has proven time and time again how unreliable he is, but for lack of other options he may be given another chance to fill the role he was signed to fill. Hopefully, Albaladejo will not be buried in the minor leagues and obscurity after his trade in the same way that Chris Britton was last season. Speaking of Britton, he should be given every opportunity to win a spot in the bullpen out of spring training, as he is still only 25 years old and has posted ERA’s of 3.55 and 3.35 the past two seasons, as well as a strong season in the minors last year (2.51 ERA). Albaladejo has had similar success thus far in his career and is also only 25 years old and the two of them could prove to not only be reliable set up men for next year but for years to come. The rest of the Yankees bullpen will also have to consist of young, unproven arms but with plenty of upside.
One of those arms emerged at the end of the 2007 season and that arm belonged to Princeton alumni Ross Ohlendorf. Ohlendorf came over in the Randy Johnson trade as a pretty good starting pitching prospect. However, he had a dreadful year in AAA to the tune of a 5.02 ERA. His future appeared to be in doubt, but he received a September call-up nonetheless. The 25 year old quickly became a dangerous weapon out of the bullpen, showing impressive velocity while touching 97 mph with his fastball. In a limited role Ohlendorf recorded a 2.84 ERA with 9 K’s in 6.1 innings and even impressed enough to be included on the post season roster. If the Yankees had enough confidence in him to include him on the post season roster after only 6.1 innings in the majors that season then it would seem he would be given every opportunity to win a spot in the bullpen out of spring training, especially with all the young starting pitching depth the Yankees have created making him less needed as a starting pitcher. Another young pitcher made the scene with the Yankees last season and completely frustrated Yankees fan and his name was Edwar Ramirez. With a devastating change-up, Ramirez had completely dominated the minor leagues in the 2007 season, posting a 0.54 ERA in Trenton with a 17.82 K/9 and a 0.90 ERA in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 13.29 K/9. Then, Ramirez was promoted the major leagues and at times was completely unhittable, but other times he couldn’t get an out. He ended up with a 8.14 ERA with the Yankees and was not included on the post season roster. Still, at 26 years old, a minor league ERA of 2.45, and the flashes of brilliance he showed there is plenty of reason to believe that Ramirez can be an asset out of the Yankees bullpen. However, with stories circulating about he was reduced to tears after a particularly brutal outing with the Yankees, it raised the question of if he is mentally tough enough to handle a high pressure set up role. Speaking of inconsistent, Brian Bruney is set to get another look this season, but with his wildness and the fact that he’s now arbitration eligible the Yankees may choose just to cut bait and move on without him. Bruney has show that he’s capable of dominating, like he did with the Yankees in 2006 with a 0.87 ERA, but also showed how quickly it can all fall apart with him due to his control problems, like in 2007 when he walked 37 in 50 innings and recorded a 4.68 ERA. Another option is Jose Veras, but no matter how much the Yankees seem to think that he’s going to eventually turn into a good pitcher it just doesn’t seem like that metamorphosis is going to happen. Veras is 27 now and yet to do anything with his career, with career ERA’s of over four in the minors and the majors. The Yankees now seem to be counting on 28 year old Scott Patterson, since they’ve included him on their 40 man roster; based on his 1.09 ERA with Trenton last season, but the former starter has been quite effective since moving to the bullpen and has impressive BB to K rates, so he may prove to be a useful piece. Sean Henn is a waste of time but he may receive one last chance just since the Yankees have no lefties whatsoever. Another option is for the Yankees to try to find the next Joba Chamberlain by seeing which starting pitcher in the minors is the most effective (probably Alan Horne) and using him in a similar fashion as they use Joba last season. Other then that, the only thing they have to hope for is that young bullpen prospects Humberto Sanchez and JB