The New York Yankees were active at the trade deadline, as they overhauled their bullpen.
The Yankees acquired David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird to bolster the bullpen. Bednar and Doval were high-leverage relievers, while Bird was supposed to be a fifth or sixth-inning reliever.
However, Bird struggled mightily as in 3 appearances with the Yankees, he had a 27.00 ERA, allowing 7 runs, 6 earned in 2 innings, as he gave up 2 home runs. After the brutal three games, the Yankees optioned Bird to Triple-A.
“I think with Birdy, and I told him this last night, he had been struggling a little bit before he got to us. Part of it was just that he’s been used a lot. It feels like he could use a little bit of a reset,” Boone said on Talkin’ Yanks.
“We think he’s really good, and we think he’s not only going to be good for us, hopefully, the rest of this year, but moving forward after this year, too,” Boone added. “So, we think we have a really talented guy who’s gone threw it over the last month. So hopefully this is something that kind of gets him a little bit back on track and he can come up and still be a big factor for us.”
As Boone says, optioning Bird is about giving him a reset and helping him find his stuff.
But the Yankees aren’t ruling out Bird being called back up soon and being an impact reliever for the playoff push.
Yankees GM Liked Deadline Moves
New York put an emphasis on their bullpen at the deadline, and Bird was supposed to be a key part of it.
Bird was brought in along with Bednar and Doval, and Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman liked the additions to the bullpen.
“I know we’re better,” Cashman said. “Just keeping it simple, we are better today than we were yesterday. So, mission accomplished there… I’m looking forward to these players competing in a really difficult market against some really high-end teams. We’re looking forward to taking our shot.”
However, Bird struggled mightily in his three outings with the Yankees, which led to him being optioned.
Bird is earning $770,000 and is under team control through the 2028 MLB season.
Yankees Manager Confident in Team
Although New York has been struggling as of late, Boone is still confident in the Yankees’ roster.
The Yankees are 25-31 since June 1, but despite that, Boone says this team is the best he’s managed.
“The difficult thing for me is I really feel like we potentially have such a good team right now, and we haven’t been able to put it together,” Boone said. “A big part of that is on me. I got to help set the tone to put these guys in a position to help realize their position.
“I tell a lot of people privately, I’ll tell you guys now. In a lot of ways, I feel like this is potentially the best team we’ve had here over the last several years,” Boone added. “But we have to put it together and go realize that potential, because that’s all it is right now. We’ve got to go. I do absolutely believe that we have that run in us. Talk is cheap, this is just on paper right now, it’s got to happen.”
New York is 60-53 and in third place in the AL East and tied for the second Wild Card spot.
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