The Yankees have already filled out their main roster needs for the 2017 season, but they’re still monitoring the lefty-reliever market where they could use an extra arm.
According to Peter Gammons, the Yankees are among the 12-20 teams that will watch LHP Craig Breslow throw a showcase on Jan. 23. Gammons notes that the 36-year-old veteran has worked on his mechanics and breaking ball since being released by the Texas Rangers last August. Breslow mostly played for the Miami Marlins in ’16, going 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 15 games before getting released in July. He was picked up by Texas but didn’t appear in a game for them.
Breslow, who studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale before getting drafted, experienced his best season in 2013 for the Boston Red Sox. He went 5-2 out of the pen in 61 games, compiling a 1.81 ERA over 59.2 innings and played an integral part in Boston’s championship run. For his career, Breslow owns a 3.35 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 419 strikeout in 535.1 innings over parts of 11 seasons.
The Yankees’ lefty relief corp on the 40-man roster currently includes Aroldis Chapman, Tommy Layne, Chasen Shreve, Richard Bleier and Dietrich Enns.
