Potential Free Agent Target for the Yankees: Jacob Junis

Much of the offseason has been spent discussing the Yankees’ rotation, especially since the organization was able to focus almost entirely on that side of the ball after acquiring Juan Soto.

Regardless matter how you want to view it, the majority of the work has probably already been completed. Although there have been fewer whispers regarding Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell’s availability, the big shot at Yoshinobu Yamamoto has failed.

As of right now, the Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole would lead the Yankees into the season, followed by Marcus Stroman, a recent free agent signing, Clarke Schmidt, and potential rebounders Carlos Rodón and Nestor Cortes. It’s not terrible for a five-star start.

Regardless of your feelings, Rodón has already received the whole investment; now, it is up to the staff and the southpaw to get the most out of him. The Yankees attempted to acquire Stroman, another No. 2-type starter, but Rodón is the one who really needs to fill that position. The staff’s issue isn’t so much with one pitcher as it is with the continued lack of organizational depth.

The front management has plenty of time to go out on the market and find another competent starter; not someone who will cause ripples, but someone who can provide some consistency, even though a bold move is doubtful.

When evaluating the market, Jakob Junis’s name sticks out in particular. Quietly, the right-hander pitched in the rotation and filled many innings out of the bullpen during his respectable campaign with the Giants.

In 40 appearances, Junis threw 86 innings for San Francisco, recording a 3.87 ERA and a 26.2% strikeout rate. The right-hander began 17 games for the Giants in 2022 as opposed to 4 in 2023, but once the organization added some players to the rotation, he was moved to this swing man position.

In 2023, Junis, who specializes in sliders, threw the pitch 62.5 percent of the time. The rest of the time, he played off it mostly with a mediocre sinker. However, he also had a change up that didn’t seem too bad.

These figures could lead you to believe that the Yankees would be better off doing things internally, but there aren’t many options available, which is one aspect of the issue. As things stand, who would start games if someone in the Yankees’ rotation got hurt? As everyone who has seen even one baseball season knows, injuries inevitably happen to someone.

Right now, the most intriguing options are Luke Weaver, who inked an MLB contract earlier in the off-season, or Will Warren, especially if he performs well in spring training. While Junis himself need not even be the back-end objective, this is not to argue that he would be a hundred percent superior to them; rather, it is to suggest that they need more options.

In 2022, Clarke Schmidt performed much better, mostly coming out of the bullpen. Although there is a chance he will advance, you should still be willing to consider other possibilities. In addition to riding the hot hand, you could restrict both of their exposures in a game by avoiding facing the lineup a third time if you have a back-end arm like Junis.

To put things in perspective, both Schmidt and Junis gave up an OPS below.700 while facing a lineup in their opening at-bats, with Schmidt’s figure rising significantly. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Junis was expected to sign a two-year contract costing $15 million annually at the start of the offseason. If your AAV was a little bit higher, you might even be able to negotiate a one-season agreement. Not that there have been a ton of rumors this summer regarding him.

You could still use Junis in the bullpen even if Schmidt develops into the pitcher the Yankees hope and anticipate him to be. It’s an attempt to raise the floor, and modest actions like that can have a big impact occasionally.