by Paul Semendinger
December 27, 2023
***
After failing to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto, there is an intriguing pitcher option out there for the Yankees who I am just starting to learn about:
Yariel Rodriguez.
Let's take a look.
Rodriguez will be 27-years-old when the 2024 season begins. (He turns 27 in March.)
Hailing from Cuba, Rodriguez pitched in the Japanese Professional League for three seasons, from 2020 through 2022. In three seasons, he pitched to a 10-10 record with a 3.03 ERA, but it seems that most of those games were out of the bullpen.
Previously, he pitched in Cuba for the Cuban National team pitching in 91 games (72 starts) going 32-26, 3.30.
Of note, Rodriguez did not pitch in 2023.
MLBTR notes the following on Rodriguez:
Rodriguez is something of a wild card in the free agent pitching market, given that he has spent most of his career pitching in Cuba, he worked mostly out of the bullpen with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball from 2020-22, and he didn’t pitch at all in 2023 (apart from the World Baseball Classic) since he sat out the NPB season trying to get released from his contract with the Dragons.
According to the B-R Bullpen, Rodriguez "throws a fastball in the low 90s, a slider and a changeup."
My Thoughts:
I love when the Yankees sign great players.
I love when the Yankees sign international players. It's all very exciting.
That being said...
Rodriguez hasn't been a starting pitcher this decade
His fastball isn't all that fast by MLB standards
He didn't pitch (except in the WBC) in 2023
In a world where the Yankees need starting pitching, it does not seem, at all, that Y-Rod (I just gave him that nickname) is the answer.
Would he make a good depth piece for the bullpen? Sure.
BUT...
So would have Yuki Matsui, a left-handed pitcher from Japan who signed with the Padres in the aftermath of the Yamaoto deal. Matsui would have also been a nice addition to the Yankees. He signed for only $28 million over five years. Boy, the Yankees should have been all over that. (Maybe they couldn't focus on that deal after spending so much time chasing Yamamoto.)
In the end, if the Yankees sign Yariel Rodriguez, I assume he won't be making many starts for the team. I will assume he'll be a pitcher signed to help the bullpen. That is necessary, but the bigger problem is the starting rotation and that is something the Yankees will need to address with big dollars or prospects which is a different kind of cost.
The Yankees are in a tight and difficult spot.
I hope they're working around the clock to address the starting pitching (and other) issues.
