In a Shocking Turn of Events, Yankees Deftly Address Issues

Whether taken individually or collectively, the Yankees’ off-season moves to strengthen the bullpen have been superb. Yesterday’s signing of former Astros and A’s closer (and Mets prospect) Octavio Dotel joined the signings of setup man Kyle Farnsworth, lefty specialist Mike Myers, and swingman Ron Villone as moves that should give the Yankees their best bullpen since 2002.While Myers and Villone are among the better pitchers of their kinds, Dotel and Farnsworth – young, durable flamethrowers – are the crucial signings. Dotel’s deal is a bargain – $2 million for a year with an extra $3 million in possible performance bonuses – while Farnsworth’s deal is slightly absurd, at three years and $17 million. What’s most important, though, is that if they live up to the potential they’ve shown at various points in their careers, the Yankees will have two closer-quality relievers to bridge the gap between their starters and Mariano Rivera.Of the two, Dotel is the better pitcher, though it’s unclear whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day, as he’s coming off ligament replacement surgery. Since going to the bullpen full-time in 2001, Dotel has been completely unhittable, routinely striking out more than 10 men per nine innings and often striking out as many as 13 while walking almost no one.Dotel uses a violent, slingshot delivery and relies mainly on two pitches: a hard moving, 97-mph fastball and a vicious, tight-breaking slider. In addition to all that, you have to credit the man’s guts: While some questioned his fitness for closing when he blew 16 saves in 59 chances after becoming a full-time closer, it later came out that he’d been pitching most of that time with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. You probably couldn’t lift your wallet out of your back pocket with one of those – Dotel struck out 12 men per inning and saved 43 games.The downside to Dotel is that he’s prone to the fly ball. This is pretty common with true power pitchers, especially those who throw high in the strike zone (which is how you get those pretty strikeout totals), but Dotel is a freak. The league-average ground ball/fly ball ratio is usually around 1.10 – Dotel has pitched full seasons with ratios of 0.53 and 0.49, and has a career mark of 0.62. That may not be a good fit with the sketchy outfield defense we’re going to see this year in the Bronx.Though not nearly so extreme, the 29-year-old Farnsworth also has fly ball tendencies, with a career 0.99 ratio. Also like Dotel, Farnsworth throws a fastball (he’s one of the few legitimate 100+ mph pitchers in the majors) and a ridiculous slider. On pure stuff, he’s one of the best pitchers in the majors, and in the seasons when he’s put it all together, he’s been one of the better relievers around. Last year, he ran up a 2.19 ERA with Atlanta and Detroit; in his 2001 and 2003 campaigns with the Cubs, his ERAs were 2.74 and 3.30, and in the former season he struck out 107 men in just 82 innings.The problem with Farnsworth has always been mental. In Chicago, he became notorious for his wild nightlife. Whether it was this, an inability to absorb instruction, or something else, Farnsworth had some truly horrible seasons in Chicago, like the 2002 season in which he pitched worse than his 7.33 ERA showed, or the 2004 season, when he finished with passable numbers but enraged fans and the organization with his flair for unbelievably badly timed home runs.While I’m not generally a believer in the idea that some players don’t have what it takes to succeed in New York, I won’t be surprised if Farnsworth is a spectacular, Jeff Weaver-style flameout. I also won’t be surprised if he does as well as Tom Gordon has over the last couple of years. The North Side of Chicago isn’t an easy place to play, either, and Farnsworth had some great seasons there.What’s best about these moves, in all, is that the Yankees have hedged their bets so well. Relying on Farnsworth or Dotel to replace Gordon, given their various issues, would be foolish. Signing both of them in the expectation that one will replace Gordon and one will be a solid reliever is an excellent plan, especially since there’s a reasonable chance that both will be able to replace the Flash. In the event that both fail, you still have to like the chances the Yankees have given themselves – genuine strikeout pitchers capable of throwing 80 innings of 2.00 ERA ball aren’t easy to find, and the Yankees have two of them.After so many off-seasons in which the team’s solutions have had the most tenuous relationship imaginable with its problems, a winter of solutions is really something to see.tmarchman@nysun.com

In a Shocking Turn of Events, Yankees Deftly Address Issues

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