Low-Risk, High-Reward Moves The New York Yankees Could Make

There are moves the New York Yankees could make that won’t break the bank, yet could make them a better overall team. 

Last year, they became the first Yankees’ team in the Wild Card era not to invest in a free agent and as principal owner Hal Steinbrenner looks to remain under the $189-million tax threshold, expect little spending.

They do, however, have some wiggle room in that their payroll is listed at $127-million, per Baseball Prospectus, therefore a few moves are able to be made to make a rebuilding team a contending one, even after the arbitration process.

General manager Brian Cashman knows that this team is more than one piece away from a championship, but he has a history of making sneaky good moves that tally a few more wins throughout the season.

Without further adieu, here are some sneaky moves that come at a low-cost, high reward for Cashman and the Yankees.

Sign Brad Ziegler

With all the hype that surrounds the relievers on this free agent market (Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Mark Melancon), Brad Ziegler is an under the radar guy that could reinforce the middle relief unit.

Yes, the righty is 37-years old but over the last two seasons (135 games) he has maintained a 2.05 earned run average while yielding just five home runs in 136 innings of work.

In 2016, Ziegler was one of just ten relief pitchers in baseball to record a 2.25 ERA or lower while appearing in 65 or more games.

Among those relievers, he surrendered the second-fewest home runs — just one more than Andrew Miller did. Ziegler was also the oldest, so who said the geezers can’t play?

Sure, a move to bring in a guy on the wrong side of 30 could be thought of as counterproductive, but a one-year deal to a guy like Ziegler will give Girardi a guy to matchup against tough righties with (.630 OPS vs RHB) while using guys like Tommy Layne or Richard Bleier against lefties.

With Ziegler, there will be no long-term commitment, and —given the competitive market— his price should not keep New York from making a splash at a top-notch free agent reliever.

Trade For Hector Santiago 

Hector Santiago is not one of the most attractive arms out there but Cashman, if he were to add a starter, would look to make an addition without selling too much. A trade for Santiago is the ideal kind of move.

The lefty’s cost will be way down thanks to a 5.58 ERA in 11 starts for the Minnesota Twins following a trade from the Los Angeles Angels, but don’t let that mislead you into thinking he won’t bounce back in his contract year.

In six starts in September, Santiago went 3-2 with an ERA of 3.75 and showed flashes of pure dominance in 2016 like his 6-0 record in July in which he struck out 34 compared to seven earned runs in 35.1 innings of work (1.78 ERA).

He has also been a notorious innings eater as he posted 362.2 innings since the start of 2015 which is in the tenth-best among left-handers in that span.

As a plus, in his career against AL East opponents (excluding the Yankees), Santiago owns a 3.42 ERA and has struck out 100 batters in 100.1 innings of work.

So, a relatively young starting pitcher known for remaining healthy and looking to re-establish his value with zero long-term commitment? Sounds like a guy the Yankees should at least weigh options on.

Sign Neftali Feliz

From 2010-11, only five closers in baseball (Heath Bell, Brian Wilson, Francisco Cordero, Mariano Rivera, Jose Valverde) recorded more saves than Neftali Feliz.

Unfortunately, after his 2011 campaign, he only appeared in 44 games over three years and maintained an overall 6.48 ERA while surrendering 10.7 hits per nine innings with Texas and Detroit in 2015.

However, the former All-Star returned to respectability in 2016 by posting a 3.52 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched. He also posted a strong strikeout to walk ratio of 10.2 strikeouts to 3.5 walks per nine innings pitched with a spectacular batting average against of .207. 

Feliz also showed signs of pure dominance, like when he didn’t surrender an earned run from April 30 to June 5 while opposing hitters slashed .094/.094/.156.

His stock has heightened and he should be able to obtain a contract worth more than his $3.9 million salary from a year ago, but if Cashman can pull a one-year deal out of him, Feliz could be a perfect fit in his bullpen.

Assuming they pursue Aroldis Chapman and obtain him, it would push Dellin Betances back into his setup role and Tyler Clippard into the seventh inning.

With that and the signing of Feliz, New York could have a pretty solid middle relief unit featuring him, Layne, Bleier, Adam Warren, Bryan Mitchell or others who may make their way onto the 25-man roster in Spring Training.

Retain Billy Butler

The only reason the Yankees went for Billy Butler was to combat the surplus of left-handers they were about to face and may have gotten a key right-handed bat for 2017, too.

Through 12 games in New York, the 30-year old went 10-for-29 (.354) with one home run as the team’s designated hitter and even spent three games over at first base. Small sample size, sure, but to have his bat in the lineup (as a DH) against left-handers could be beneficial.

Small sample size, sure, but to have his bat in the lineup (as a DH) against southpaws to compliment Brian McCann against righties could be a dangerous trait of the Yankees’ lineup.

In his career against left-handed pitching, Butler owns a career slash line of .300/.382/.492 with an OPS of .874 and 55 home runs.

With Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo, and Matt Holliday expected to get a majority of the attention, Cashman would not have to pay much, at all, making Butler the ideal low-risk, high reward signing.

Overall, this offseason is a big one for the Yanks. Their 2016 season was deemed a success for what the potential the youngsters showed and the team ability to last until the fourth-to-last day of the year.

However, that won’t cut it during 2017. Progress need to be made if Cashman wants to see his team reach the promised land — or even a contract extension of his own. However, spending won’t be done empty-minded.

Although you won’t see him be as conservative as a year ago, a year in which he didn’t sign a major league free agent, expect bargain moves like these to get it done.

Christian Kouroupakis covers the New York Yankees for ESNY. Interact with him and view his daily work by “liking” his facebook page and follow him on Twitter. All statistics are courtesy of Baseball Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Don’t hesitate to shoot him an email with any questions, criticisms, or concerns.