New York Yankees Bullpen: Where Do They Rank?

(Zell's Pinstripe Blog)

According to The Ghost of Moonlight Graham, the Boston Red Sox have the best bullpen. I believe the Yankees had the best bullpen in all of baseball last year, but things have changed since Joba moved into the rotation. The Joba Chamberlain/Mariano Rivera duo was unhittable, and created the best one-two punch in the game. After the seventh inning, the game was pretty much over. I’m not trying to make a case that he belongs in the pen, but I’m just stating the facts.

The Yankees' bullpen is filled with a lot of talent this year. They have a bunch of young guys in the pen, including David Robertson, Edwar Ramirez, and Phil Coke. They still have the best closer in the game. The statistics prove it.

This was his analysis of the Yankees:

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No. 4: New York Yankees — 24 Points

RH - Edwar Ramirez, Brian Bruney (No. 2)

LH - Damaso Marte (No. 6)

C - Mariano Rivera (No. 10)

2008 bullpen era - 3.79 (No. 6)

Analysis - With Joba Chamberlain slated to be in the starting rotation in 2009, the Yankees don’t have a dominant RH set up guy in pen. But when you have the greatest closer of all time still on top of his game, you will always have a good bullpen.

If the Yankees get Juan Cruz, then things could change. It should make things very interesting. Bullpens can be very difficult to grade, because they could be very good one year and very bad the next.

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