Padres Swipe New York Yankees Star Reliever, Leaving Bullpen A Question Mark
The San Diego Padres have stolen another top arm from the New York Yankees.
The Padres have signed left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta to a four-year, $16.5 million deal that includes three opt-outs.
Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic were the first to report on this news.
The Yankees had interest in bringing back Peralta, who spent 2021-2023 in the Bronx, and served as one of the team's top high-leverage relievers.
The loss of Peralta is big in a Yankee bullpen that will be without Michael King this year after trading him to the Padres for Juan Soto in December.
The Yankees already missed out on elite closer Josh Hader, Hector Neris, Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore and others. Their bullpen still needs work, and there aren't too many high-leverage options remaining.
A reunion with Peralta made the most sense for the Yankees, but they were clearly unwilling to go the same amount of years and/or dollars that the Padres offered.
Although the Yankees acquired Soto, Trent Grisham and Alex Verdugo to improve their lineup, their pitching staff looks like an unfinished product.
The only move of significance that the Yankees have made to their pitching staff this offseason was signing right-hander Marcus Stroman to a two-year deal.
New York is out on multi-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, per Bob Klapisch of NJ.com, after making him an $150 million offer. Snell is said to be seeking a deal in the neighborhood of $270 million, which is too rich for the Yankees' blood at this point given the money they have given to Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole, not to mention the dollars they will have to attempt to allocate to pay Soto next winter if they wish to keep him around long-term.
Peralta would have been an ideal fit for the Yankees, but now he is off the table, as are several other options.
