Latroy Hawkins a Yankee (unfortunately)

Last week, I wrote an article about the possible free agents the Yankees could sign to strengthen their bullpen. Noticeably missing from that entry was any mention of Latroy Hawkins, the newest Yankee. That’s because I was only listing pitchers who would actually benefit the team. That may be a little harsh, but I’m not alone in my skepticism of this signing. The 34 year old right hander was recently signed to a one year, $3.75 million contract. The numbers don’t look bad when looked at alone, as he did have a very respectable 3.42 ERA in 2007 for the Rockies, although his 1.23 WHIP and low strikeout rates were a bit disheartening. When I say low strike out rates, I mean it as Hawkins only struck out 29 batters in 55.1 innings. Hawkins does keep his walks down as well, but with the amount of hits he gives up and the fact that he does not miss many bats would lead you to believe that his success relies heavily on luck. The stat used for this, BABIP (batting average on balls in play) showed how lucky Hawkins was last year, as his BABIP was a lucky .238. Luck like that does not often last, so I’m not expecting Hawkins to even come that close to matching his ERA of last season. His career mark of 4.68 is much more likely, and that’s only with consideration to the pure baseball aspect of it. That’s not even taking account of the fact that Hawkins is a choke artist. This can be best seen as his days as a closer both with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs. Hawkins blew 9 saves per year as a closer; he blew exactly nine in 2001, 2004, and 2005. Throw in his 4.63 career post season ERA and it becomes pretty clear that Hawkins folds under pressure. Why is this relevant? It is not only for when the Yankees make the playoffs (hopefully), but every game in New York feels like a pressure cooker. Plenty of pitchers of a higher caliber then Hawkins have come to New York and were crushed under the pressure and it seems like the likely fate of Hawkins. I’d go as far as to say that he’s the next Kyle Farnsworth. Besides, Cubs fans know what it’s like to have Hawkins and Farnsworth in the same bullpen, not good. So imagine the Yankees carrying a one run lead into the eighth inning in Fenway Park and Hawkins comes trotting out to protect that slim lead. How confident do you feel about that thought?