Struggling to Plug the Holes: Bullpen

The Boston Red Sox have added injury to insult with the latest expansion of the Josh Beckett deal. The deal has been expanded to include setup man Guillermo Mota for an additional Boston pitching prospect. This no more than a day after there were reports that the Yankees were trying to make a deal for some of the Marlins' relievers, Mota and lefty Ron Villone. It's just part of the growing trend this winter - every time a reliever's name is connected to the Yankees, he immediately becomes unavailable to them. Mota joins Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry, and will likely be joined by BJ Ryan and Tom Gordon, as potential pinstriped setup men who have been plucked away from the Yankees' grasp (Ryan & Gordon are still unsigned, but rumors persist that they are not interested in setting up).

Though it would seem such moves should anger Cashman, the man seems unflappable, outwardly content with going into April with less than the usual brand name talent. Cashman has cited young Yankee farmhands like lefty Matt Smith, T.J. Beam, Colter Bean and big leaguers Scott Proctor, Tanyon Sturtze, Aaron Small, and Jaret Wright as potential in-house fallback scenarios should the troubling trend continue.

The Yankees have moved their pursuit to "second tier" free agent relievers like Julian Tavarez, Octavio Dotel, Kyle Farnsworth, and lefties Joey Eischen, Ricardo Rincon, and Mike Myers. Although he hasn't been mentioned, the Yankees might try someone like Braden Looper who struggled as the Mets closer and may benefit from returning to a setup role, especially if it is behind someone as reliable as Rivera. If the situation continues to grow desperate, they might look to gamble with former successful closers like Danny Graves, Matt Mantei, or 41-year old Roberto Hernandez.

It's currently unclear if the Yankees have any match in the trade market, as the relatively thin free agent class also means that teams are unwilling to part with their current relievers, especially anyone who could make a serious impact in the Yankee bullpen. Besides that, it's also unclear what the Yankees might be willing to offer - they don't have any offense to trade (unless they can sign Giles, in which case Sheff could in theory be made available), they haven't shown any interest in trading Pavano or Wright, and are dead-set against moving any marketable prospects.

Just like the centerfield situation, you may see a Yankee bullpen this spring that is based around young in-house arms. They're cheap, there are a bunch of them, and if any of them work out, the team will have found a long-term solution. Of course, that's if they work out.