The New York Yankees bullpen was one of the 94-win team’s weak points in the 2025 season, finishing 23rd overall with a 4.37 ERA, and 10th with a .236 opponents’ batting average.
Since the season ended, the Bronx Bombers’ pen has lost two important arms to free agency. First, closer-turned-setup man Devin Williams departed for the crosstown rival New York Mets, lured by a reported three-year deal totaling $51 million including bonus money.
Mets Raid Yankees Bullpen
Then, just on Wednesday, the Mets grabbed another Yankee bullpen stalwart, according to a report by the New York Post. The Amazins were reported to be signing 10-year veteran and former first-round draft pick Luke Weaver, who saved 12 games and struck out 191 in 162 innings over three seasons with the Yankees.
Even with the three relievers they picked up at the trade deadline, the Yankees bullpen needs rebuilding. But how?
“The Yankees have remained strict on their lack of spending on the bullpen,” wrote Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media on Wednesday. “Brian Cashman believes in his pitching development team to try and find hidden gems for cheap on the market, and relievers are so volatile that it can be hard to reliably project reliever performance.”
Yankees Make Economical Bullpen Signing
Cashman’s “find hidden gems” approach was on display Tuesday when the Yankees made an under-the-radar free agent signing of a right-handed pitcher who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 21st round â a round that doesn’t even exist anymore â back in 2019 out of Patrick & Henry Community College in Martinsville, Virginia.
In fact, 26-year-old Bradley Hanner has not thrown a major-league pitch since joining the Twins’ farm system â even after the Twins waived him in 2022 and he was claimed by the Cleveland Guardians.
As a prep hurler at Orange County High School in Orange, Virginia, a small public school in Orange, Virginia, Hanner was the No. 4 ranked righty pitcher in the state, and No. 8 overall.
But he made it as high as Triple-A with the Columbus Clippers in the Guardians organization, and received a spring training invitation this year. But he still never got his chance with the big club so, when the season ended, he elected free agency on Nov. 6.
The Yankees signed the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Hanner on Dec. 11, according to Joel Sherman of the Post. But the signing was not posted on the Yankeesâ official transactions site until Tuesday.
The signing comes with an invitation to the Yankees’ spring training in 2026. If he makes the major league roster, Hanner will earn a salary of juts $800,000, according to Sherman â in keeping with Cashman’s philosophy of signing low-cost “hidden gems.”
Hanner Brings ‘Elite’ Sweeper
What did Cashman and the Yankees see in Hanner, whose 4.25 ERA over six minor league seasons is respectable enough, but nothing eye-catching?
Hanner has one pitch that has been described as “elite,” and on which he has elicited a reported 44 percent whiff rate. If accurate, that figure is remarkable. The average MLB whiff rate on all pitches in 2024 was 25.1 percent.
“Hanner has a big sweeper that averages 20.6 inches of lateral movement,” wrote Garcia of the Yankeesâ newest pitcher. “But (he) lacks the fastball quality and consistency due to poor velocity and movement.”
Hanner has struggled with control, walking 12 percent of all batters he faced in the minor leagues, or nearly five for every nine innings pitched.
“His stuff wins when he’s in the zone, though, getting strikeouts and not giving up many home runs,” wrote Billy Heyen of The Sporting News, reporting on the Hanner signing. “So the Yankees’ task will be to figure out how to enhance Hanner’s control just a bit to make him more effective.”
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