Via Dan Barbarisi: Left-hander Boone Logan said he is open to returning to the Yankees next season. He’ll become a free agent for the first time this winter. “I look at it like this: When I started pitching good, I was with the Yankees,” he said. “It’s something I’m going to look a lot more into, and give it more thought, but I will say this: Why fix something that isn’t broke? That’s something I’ve got to talk to myself about. That time will come. But why wouldn’t you want to play for the Yankees, if you can?”
Logan, 29, has a 3.38 ERA (3.64 FIP) with a dynamite strikeout rate (10.30 K/9 and 26.8 K%) in 175.2 innings since coming to New York prior to the 2010 season. He’s held same-side hitters to a .292 wOBA with a 32.6% strikeout rate in pinstripes. Logan has been the team’s best left-handed reliever since Mike Stanton was in his heyday and it’s not all that close either. That said, I’m concerned about his recent workload — his 204 appearances since 2011 are the 12th most in baseball — and the fact that he admitted his elbow has been barking since Spring Training. He’ll need surgery to clean out a bone spur after the season.
The going rate for quality lefty relievers these days is something like three years and $12M (Damaso Marte!). Scott Downs got a little more (three years, $15M), Sean Burnett a little less (two years, $8M). Logan has a lot going for him in that he’s relatively young, offers premium power stuff, and has shown he can do it in a small ballpark for a perennial contender. As good as he’s been, there is a definite case to be made that letting him walk is the right move for the Yankees, especially given the elbow stuff. A $4-5M lefty reliever doesn’t fit well under the $189M luxury tax given the team’s other commitments either.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.