The Yankees have a key piece of their bullpen set to hit free agency in a few days in Dellin Betances. Should they bring him back or let him walk?
The offseason will be here very, very soon, and with that come key departures and additions. One potential departure for the Yankees this offseason is reliever Dellin Betances, who missed practically the entire year with a multitude of injuries, including a lat injury and a season-ending torn Achilles after his return on September 15th, saw his value took quite the hit before hitting the open market next week. That leaves us with a major question: should the Yankees re-sign Dellin Betances this offseason?
The Yankees Should Re-Sign Dellin Betances Because…
For one, Betances is a proven top reliever. With a career 2.36 ERA and 621 strikeouts in 381.2 career innings, the Yankee righty has established himself as one of the best out of the pen in the sport.
Something else to consider regarding Betances: his injury troubles this season bring his value down, which may make him more appealing to sign if the Yankees believe he can bounce back well from his injury-riddled 2019. The Yankees need to evaluate Betances and his chances he can return strong in 2020, and if they believe he can, they should strongly consider going after their key set-up man.
Finally, Aroldis Chapman’s opt-out clause likely has an impact on what the Yankees do with Betances. The Yankees’ closer can hit the market if he so pleases, and many in the industry believe he may test the open waters. If Chapman does indeed become a free agent, his price tag will almost certainly be higher than that of Betances, and the Yankees will then have two open holes to fill.
We’ve seen Betances in the closer role for a short while in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and overall, fans have seen him struggle in a ninth-inning spot. Do the Yankees have faith that Betances can perhaps thrive out of the closer role this time and give him a hefty contract to fill the void left by Chapman if they can’t bring him back? We’ll have to wait and see.
The Yankees Should not Re-Sign Dellin Betances Because…
Maybe it’s just time for a change. Yes, it sounds too simple, but the Yankees never were able to extend Betances previously before this season, making me skeptical that a reunion once Betances hit the open market as feasible. We don’t know how exactly Betances feels towards the Yankees either, following the arbitration debacle between the Yanks and Betances back in February of 2017. We have to wait until the offseason to see how that pans out.
Or maybe Betances’ injury scares the Yankees away from making a real pursuit of the righty. The Bombers may not want to spend money on damaged goods, especially if the contract doesn’t work out.
The Yankees have many decisions to make this offseason, and this is one of them. They could either let a perennial staple of their bullpen for five years walk away, or they could bring back that staple returning from an injury-plagued 2019 campaign.