The New York Yankees have made solidifying their bullpen a priority this offseason, shedding fading closer Clay Holmes who blew 13 saves in 2024, to the New York Mets in free agency. The Yankees then locked up Luke Weaver who took the closer’s job from Holmes in September, nailing down four saves, three wins and a hold in nine appearances that month.
And then the Yankees solidified the pen further by trading starter Nestor Cortes, infielder Caleb Durbin and cash to the Milwaukee Brewers for two-time All Star closer Devin Williams. Weaver now resumes his role as primary set-up man, giving the Yankees what looks like a lights-out back end of the bullpen.
But the Yankees’ relief corps could use one more shut-down arm to shorten games, and they are interested in acquiring one, as evidenced by the report by longtime MLB insider journalist Jon Heyman on Thursday that “Andrew Chafin is high on the Yankees’ list of lefty pen targets. Tim Hill is, too.”
Twins Fireballer Comes at Lower Price Than Chafin
Chafin divided his 2024 between the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers, striking out 70 in 56 1/3 innings with a 3.51 ERA. Hill, who like Chafin is 34 years old, spent last season with the Yankees but the team let him go to free agency. With the Yankees placing emphasis on swing-and-miss stuff, Hill’s mere 18 strikeouts in 44 innings make him a less likely candidate to fill the lefty spot in the Bronx bullpen.
But there is another high-velocity bullpen arm reportedly available on the trade market who is younger than Chafin and less expensive as well — and who throws much harder. In fact, he recorded not just one but five pitches clocked at 104 mph or more during the 2023 season. That pitcher is the Minnesota Twins’ 26-year-old Dominican righty flamethrower Jhoan Duran.
Chafin pitched last season on a $4.75 million contract from the Tigers. Duran is in line to earn just $1.77 million in 2025. Experts have projected his arbitration award for 2026 to come in around $3.7 million.
Twins Proved Their Willingness to Deal Duran
The Twins have shown a willingness to trade Duran. At the 2024 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers are known to have asked about him, according to The Athletic‘s Twins beat writer Dan Hayes. But the Twins’ price was too high. According to Hayes, the Dodgers offered the Twins minor league prospects, but Minnesota was looking for players who could step in and help the Major League team.
According to Twins Daily, the team had some concern about a drop in velocity for Duran last season. But even with the drop, the average velocity of his four-seam fastball came in at 100.6 mph.
The Yankees would likely have to part with some Major League assets to grab Duran, but their roster is deep and even their pitching has some extraneous parts. With the addition of Max Fried signed as free agent from the Atlanta Braves, righty starter Clarke Schmidt appears expendable, for example. The Yankees would need to add more to obtain Duran, so the question they need to ask themselves would be, is it worth it? With a deeper bullpen that takes pressure off the Yankees’ high-priced starting staff, for an addition as economical as Duran the answer is most likely yes.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin
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