The New York Yankees may be looking to add to their incredible bullpen by acquiring Oakland A’s reliever Blake Treinen. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Treinen is likely to be dealt in the A’s quest to cut payroll.
First things first: just because the New York Yankees are interested in Blake Treinen doesn’t mean they’re not pursuing Gerrit Cole. I know that’s where everyone’s brain is going to go immediately. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Now that that’s out of the way, Ken Rosenthal announced on Twitter that the Yankees are one of the teams interested in acquiring the A’s righty reliever.
#Yankees one of teams interested in #Athletics’ Blake Treinen, sources tell The Athletic. Wrote Tuesday about OAK’s willingness to move Treinen and other non-tender candidates. https://t.co/f5wHdir05C
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 29, 2019
The 31-year-old is coming off two polar-opposite seasons. In 2018, Treinen threw 80.1 innings with an ERA of 0.78 He recorded 38 saves, received his first all-star nod, and even earned Cy Young and MVP votes.
The 2019 season was a very different story. Treinen finished the year with a 4.91 ERA over 58.2 innings. His WHIP nearly doubled and his strikeout to walk ratio dropped from 4.76 to 1.59.
Clearly, the Yankees are looking to buy low on Treinen and hope he returns to 2018 form. Adding another weapon like that to the bullpen makes an incredible unit even stronger.
In 2019, the Yankees relied heavily on their relievers and they faltered in the playoffs. Addressing the starting rotation is the only way to ensure the relievers won’t be overworked again.
However, adding another elite reliever into the mix will still help the cause. Even if the Yankees aren’t able to sign either Cole or Stephen Strasburg, Treinen will give them another weapon to use. Relievers will get more days off and be more effective down the stretch than they were in 2019.
And if Treinen returns to something of his 2018 form, the Yankees bullpen would once again be the most dominant unit in baseball.
