Done Deal: The New York Yankees have signed right-hander to a one-year contract worth $5 million

The New York Yankees are searching for a left-handed reliever to help fill out their bullpen. Left-handed relief options are pretty abundant on the market, but the Yankees are keen on one particular reliever. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported on Thursdaythat the Yankees are pursuing Andrew Chafin. Chafin, who is 34 years old, has bounced around the league in his career. He’s played for seven different teams and saw his 2024 season split between the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. He recorded a 3.51 ERA in 62 games between both teams but his numbers were much better with the Tigers than they were with the Rangers. However, he still struck out over one batter per inning with both teams. Chafin struck out 28.5% of the batters he faced. The Yankees having interest in Chafin makes sense for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, age certainly isn’t slowing him down. He’s pitching at a high level later in his career. However, the current bullpen construction further explains the interest. If the season started today, the Yankees wouldn’t have a single left-handed reliever in their bullpen. Teams don’t necessarily try to achieve a 50/50 split in the bullpen, but they do prefer to have at least two lefties available.