The Yankees and right-handers Walker Buhler They say they have “a certain mutual interest” in each other MLB Network's Jon Morosi. New York joins in Brave And athletics than teams that were already publicly linked to Buehler in the first few weeks of free agency.
Of course, the added bonus of chasing the Yankees is that Buehler delivered some of the best moments of his career during this year's World Series against the Bronx Bombers. Buehler pitched five shutout innings in the Dodgers' 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 3 and, after that strong start, made a save in the scoreless ninth inning of Game 5 when Buehler threw the final pitches that sealed the Dodgers' win. Championship.
Those convincing performances (and four more innings of shutout ball against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLCS) helped bring a happy ending to an otherwise difficult season for the 30-year-old right-hander. Buehler missed all of 2023 recovering from his second Tommy John surgery and posted a 5.38 ERA over 16 starts and 75 1/3 innings during the regular season for Los Angeles. Nearly all of Buehler's secondary numbers and metrics were below his career norms, including an 18.6% strikeout rate that was just in the 16th percentile of all pitchers.
It's not uncommon for a pitcher returning from a TJ procedure to initially struggle against big league hitters, even if Buehler has the added baggage of both his 2022 surgery and the surgery he underwent shortly after was drafted by the Dodgers in 2015. Nathan Eovaldi And Daniel Hudson are two of the better-known examples of pitchers who have continued to have success after returning from two Tommy John surgeries, but obviously Buehler's future comes with some risk, although there is clearly upside potential as well.
MLBTR projected Buehler will sign a one-year, $15 million deal this offseason, with the rationale being that he is targeting a 2025 deal and then quickly return to the market next winter after (hopefully) posting some early numbers has . With such a short-term contract, Buehler could potentially consider any number of teams, although he would probably prefer to sign for a competitor.
New York fits that description, and the Yankees are at least monitoring the given market for free-agent pitching Reports noting your interest Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake SnellAnd Sean Manaea. The Bombers have the resources to evaluate broadly every free agent, at least for due diligence purposes, and there is a sense that the club is prioritizing a new signing Juan Soto before any other off-season store with larger ticket items.
Signing Buehler to a one-year deal may not necessarily be considered a “bigger ticket” compared to the other frontline pitchers who have large multi-year deals. However, any addition to the rotation would seemingly require a trade, as the Yankees already have six rotation candidates on the roster Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Smith, Nestor Cortes, Marcus Stromanand reigning AL rookie of the year Luis Gil. Cortes or Stroman are the most likely trade candidates if New York does indeed add another starter, and a change in pitching could allow the Yankees to address other needs in the lineup or bullpen.
