The Yankees sent southpaw Zack Britton for an MRI yesterday, after feeling some discomfort in his left elbow after a bullpen session, manager Aaron Boone revealed to reporters this morning (Twitter link via ESPN’s Marly Rivera). Britton completed his throwing session normally, but started to experience pain in his elbow later in the day and was sent for imaging. The results are expected today.
Boone declined to speculate on a timeline, merely acknowledging that given the uncertainty, it is clear that it is possible that Britton is not ready for Opening Day. He indicated that the problem is not related to Britton’s ulnar collateral ligament at this time (through James Wagner of the New York Times). Boone also noted that Britton had a setback in his preparation for the camp after hiring Covid-19 in the past few months. Britton himself recently told Dan Martin of the New York Post about the matter, stating that the virus “hit me really well” in late January and caused him to lose a substantial amount of weight. The southpaw has not yet appeared in a Spring Training game.
Britton, 33, excelled for the Yankees in 2020, holding opponents to just four valuable runs in a dozen strokes and seven walks with 16 eliminations in 19 relief entries. His power sinker again resulted in an elite ground rate (71.7 percent), as became routine for the two-time All-Star. He went on to allow a couple of runs in the 5 1/3 postseason frames.
This performance led the Yankees to exercise a $ 13 million club option over Britton for the 2022 season at the end of the 2020 campaign. Under the framework of their three-year deal, which covers the 2019-21 seasons, the Yankees had to choose this option from 2022 a year earlier or risk Britton opting for the third guaranteed year of the contract (2021). He is now stuck as a Yankee until the end of his 34-year season.
Whether Britton is forced to waste time or not, the Yankees still plan to have a strong bullpen by 2021. New York traded Adam Ottavino Red Sox a few months ago, but reallocated much of that business’s cost savings to low cost Darren O’Day and Justin wilson. This veteran duo will join Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green and, ideally, Britton, in forming a strong group of veterans to anchor the body of relief.
Luis ceases, Jonathan Loaisiga, Brooks Kriske and Nick Nelson are among the other bullpen candidates on the 40-man list, and the Yankees also brought veterans Kyle Barraclough, Adam Warren, Tyler Lyons and Nick Goody in secondary league pacts. Of course, selecting a contract from any of the veterans who are not on the list would have some implications for the luxury tax. The Yankees worked hard to stay south of the $ 210 million limit and are currently estimated at $ 3.5 million before that point, according to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource.