Position Analysis - Relief Pitching

The Yankees bullpen was unpredictable last year. With Mariano Rivera's injury towards the injury, Scott Proctor seemingly pitching in every game and Kyle Farnswort's balky back Torre always had an interesting time bridging the game from his starter to his closer. The Yankees brought in a pair of right-handers in their trades that will most likely break camp with the big club and return most of the key relievers from last year. Joe Torre is notorious for falling in love with a reliever and overusing him (Tanyon Sturtze, Ron Villone). The Yankees are tossing around the idea of carrying twelve pitchers in 2007, mainly due to Torre's use of his bullpen.

Mariano Rivera enters the last year of his contract wanting a new one before the season starts. Brian Cashman wants to wait until November to give him one. If I were the GM, I'd hand Rivera a 3-year, $39 million contract right now. Or a 2-year, $25 million extension. I think I'd cry if Mariano Rivera finished his career in any uniform other than the Yankee Pinstripes. The best closer in baseball history has been throwing his cutter for about a decade, and no one's been able to hit it yet. He's gone from a strikeout pitcher to one who induces weak grounders which helps keep his pitch counts down. He's got a very fluid delivery from which he can generate a deceptive amount of power.

Kyle Farnsworth will be the eighth inning guy when he's healthy, which is hopefully all season. His fastball is 97-98 and touches 100 with life. His slider can be an unhittable pitch (like the one he froze David Ortiz with last May) or, if he fails to locate the pitch, it's a batting practice pitch. When he overthrows, he gets in trouble. Prefers setting up over getting the 27th out.

Scott Proctor pitched 102.1 innings last year (5th among relievers) but posted a 1.65 ERA in September and October. He's a rare breed of reliever that uses four pitches with regularity. In addition to his 93-98 fastball, he uses a late-breaking slider, a curveball and a decent changeup. When he fails to finish his pitches, they stay up in the zone and become easy for hitters to handle. Held hitters 1-for-13 with the bases loaded.

Mike Myers (waste of roster space, in my opinion) is the lefty specialist. He pitched in 62 games in 2007, but only pitched 30.2 innings. He's basically only a one-out pitcher and throws a "fastball" that tops out at 78 and a soft slider. His submarine delivery does make him hard on lefties (David Ortiz: 2-for-9, BB)

Brian Bruney was picked up from the Diamondbacks last summer and posted a 0.87 ERA in 19 games with the Yankees. It's silly to expect that from him for a whole season, but if he can shake this spring back injury, he should be able to contribute to the bullpen as a middle-relief guy with an ERA around 3.50.

Chris Britton was the first reliever acquired by trade. From Baltimore in the Jaret Wright deal. He used his "big, country fastball" to post a three and a half ERA in 60 games with Baltimore. He compliments his fastball with a changeup and a slider, using the changeup as his strikeout pitch.

Luis Viscaino was the main player in the Randy Johnson trade. Viscaino is the epitome of a Joe Torre relief pitcher. He's pitched in at least 65 games in the last five seasons, topping 70 in four of them. He's posted ERAs of 3.75, 3.73 and 3.58 the past three years, coming in both leagues (with Milwaukee, the White Sox and Arizona) so league changes don't appear to bother him.

Well, that's seven relievers. Pair them with the five starters and that gives the Yankees twelve pitchers. Those are the favorites to make the team, and probably will barring any lingering injuries to any of them (Bruney). Minor leaguers TJ Beam, Sean Henn (L), Humberto Sanchez, Jeff Karstens, Jose Veras and Darrell Rasner are also in the mix, but are probably behind the first seven on the depth chart. If the bullpen stays healthy, they could theoretically be one of the strongest bullpens in the American League. But injuries could force the Yankees to dip into their farm system, and the young guys could struggle making the transition.