The Yankees have spent years proving they don’t need to shop the top shelf of the bullpen market to keep their relief corps strong. They’ve leaned on internal development, cheap acquisitions, and a pitching lab that keeps turning out usable arms. But David Bednar may be the exception that forces them to change course.
Bednar is heading toward free agency after the season, and if the Yankees stick to their recent pattern, he’ll be pitching somewhere else in 2026. That would fit the way this organization has operated lately. It’s become a team that prefers to avoid eight-figure relievers, instead filling the bullpen with arms like Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, Jake Cousins, Lucas Luetge and Luke Weaver.
That approach has worked well enough to keep the Yankees afloat, even if it means the closer role keeps changing hands. Bednar has held that job since last August, and right now he looks like the kind of reliever worth breaking the trend for.
There was a time when the Yankees built bullpens the old-fashioned expensive way. The Core Four championship teams leaned on Mariano Rivera and a steady stream of dependable setup men.
Then came the late-2010s push for a true “super bullpen,” starting with Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller in 2016 and expanding from there. Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson and Chad Green all joined the mix over the next few years, and in some seasons Aaron Boone had four high-leverage relievers at his disposal.
That kind of depth came at a cost. In 2019, the Yankees spent just under $48 million on their top four relievers, more than 20 percent of a $223 million payroll. The bullpen was good, but the rest of the roster felt the squeeze.
The shift really took hold once the pitching infrastructure changed from Larry Rothschild’s staff to Matt Blake’s. That opened the door for cheaper innings from within, and the Yankees also watched some of those expensive bullpen bets fade fast.
Ottavino flopped in his second year and was dumped to Boston. Chapman unraveled after the sticky stuff ban in 2021 and lost his closer job in 2022.
Britton’s run ended with injuries, and $26 million went down the drain over his final two seasons in pinstripes, when he threw just 19 total innings.
By 2021, the Yankees were piecing together the late innings with low-cost options like Jonathan Loaisiga, Lucas Luetge and Wandy Peralta. That same season they found Clay Holmes in a minor trade with the Pirates and turned him into their closer for the next 2.5 seasons.
Michael King and Clarke Schmidt later became part of the rotation after helping out in relief, while Luke Weaver, Jake Cousins and Ian Hamilton were added as more under-the-radar pieces. Across several years, the only notable free-agent bullpen deal was Tommy Kahnle’s two-year, $12 million contract.
The team briefly went back to the big-name closer route before 2025, trading for Devin Williams from the Brewers. That move didn’t go smoothly, and Luke Weaver’s drop in production pushed the Yankees back toward the same internal model.
Williams and Weaver both left for the Mets, and the Yankees didn’t seriously chase relievers such as Edwin Diaz in the offseason. Instead, they trusted the deadline additions to keep the bullpen together.
So far, that bet has paid off. The Yankees entered Sunday night’s game against the Phillies with the majors’ best bullpen ERA at 3.01, thanks in part to breakout work from Headrick and Blackburn and the high-leverage reliability of Bednar and Fernando Cruz.
Bednar’s season has had a rough opening chapter, but the finish line has looked much better. Early on, he was inconsistent even while converting most of his save chances.
A blown save against Tyrone Taylor and the Mets on May 17, followed by a shaky outing against the Blue Jays the next night, raised real doubts. Since then, though, he hasn’t allowed a run.
Over his last 20 outings, Bednar has thrown 23.2 scoreless innings, allowing eight hits and five walks while striking out 24. He’s only allowed two baserunners in an inning three times during that stretch, and he stranded every one of them. For a Yankees team that hasn’t had many truly stress-free closers in recent memory, he’s been as close to automatic as it gets over the last two months.
The bigger case for keeping him goes beyond this hot streak. Since becoming a full-time big leaguer in 2021, Bednar has had an ERA above 3.00 only once, and that was his brutal 2024 season, when he posted a 5.77 ERA and was optioned to the minors to work things out.
His arsenal still looks built to hold up. The four-seamer sits at 96-97 mph, and the low-90s splitter keeps hitters guessing. He’s also leaned less on his curveball since the home run to Taylor in May.
Bednar turns 32 in October, and that’s the kind of reliever the Yankees can reasonably trust on a multi-year deal. Pitchers can keep producing deep into their 30s when they have a pitch that plays like that, and Fernando Cruz is a current example with his elite splitter at age 36.
Money shouldn’t be the obstacle. The Yankees are expected to clear a good amount of salary this offseason, with Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also reaching free agency. Even after accounting for those needs, there should be room to pay Bednar in a weak market.
His next contract could land in the neighborhood of the deals Devin Williams and Robert Suarez signed last offseason, with a rough value around $50 million over three years. If the Yankees don’t land a Mason Miller type at the trade deadline to fill that role, they should be willing to spend on the reliever they already know can handle it.
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