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By Drew VonScio
Contributing Sports Writer
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The New York Yankees are still finalizing their bullpen ahead of next season, but their options to do so continue to dwindle.
On Wednesday, the Miami Marlins reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with former Tampa Bay Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks. He appeared in 61 games last season for the Rays and recorded a 2.83 ERA and 27 saves.
According to Christina De Nicola and Andrew Simon of MLB.com, the deal will cost the Marlins $13 million plus a $1 million signing bonus. An extra $1 million bonus is also a possibility through an incentives in the form of an appearance bonus. At that price, it's embarrassing that the New York Yankees did not pursue him.
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The perception in the baseball world was that Fairbanks would sign a multi-year deal this offseason, but that is reportedly not the case. If he signed a three-year deal with the same average annual value he reportedly has now, it would be a little more understandable as to why the Yankees went a different direction. History has shown that some teams choose to go the short term route with the bullpen.
However, there is simply no excuse to not sign him based on the reported agreement. Fairbanks would have been the perfect fit in the back end of the bullpen as the set up man for All-Star closer David Bednar. If by some chance Bednar was not available, Fairbanks could have stepped in to close on any particular day. He was the best remaining option for the Yankees in free agency, and now they watched him sign with the Marlins.
If Fairbanks was set on staying with a team in Florida, then it makes sense as to why Brian Cashman didn't land his services. Otherwise, it was yet another failure from the Yankees to address what some would consider to be the team's biggest weakness as things stood late Wednesday afternoon.
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