Bullpen arm worth watching: Andrew Bailey

Yesterday I said that non-tender likely pitcher John Axford would be a good option for the Yankees in their search to find either a closer or setup man next season, depending on which direction they decide to go with David Robertson.

Personally, I think Robertson should, and will, be the Yankees' No. 1 choice to be the closer next season. Why spend the money to sign a closer when you already have a pitcher that's been on of the best setup in the league for the past few seasons? You don't have to do that. Robertson should close, and the Yankees should instead spend bullpen money on a setup man because, frankly, I don't see a setup man on the roster.

I suppose you could try Shawn Kelley in that role after showing some ability to pitch out of the bullpen last season for the Yankees.

Either way, Axford was non-tendered by the St. Louis Cardinals and now he is a free-agent. If that doesn't work out, then there would be another guy to look at: Right-handed reliever Andrew Bailey, who was non-tendered by the Boston Red Sox.

Bailey, when healthy, is one of the more underrated relievers in the league. He was great a couple of years ago with the Oakland Athletics before being traded to Boston.

Bailey saw limited time with the Red Sox in his two years on the team because of injuries. A labrum tear in his right shoulder knocked him out in 2013 after just 28.2 innings. In two totals years in Boston, his ERA is 4.91 in just over 45 innings.

The first three years of his major league career, all with the Athletics, were much better. His ERA was 2.07 in the three years combined, and he struck out 174 batters in 174 innings, while walking 69. His strikeouts per nine was 9.4 and his walks per nine was 2.8. He was even named AL Rookie of the Year in 2009 after posting a 1.84 ERA in 68 appearances.

Bailey made $4.1 million this past season with the Red Sox, and through the arbitration process, he is expected to make something around that next season, too.

I think no matter who you look at, both Axford and Bailey could be reasonable options for the Yankees, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to take a look at them. Maybe one more than the other, but that would be for Brian Cashman to decided.

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Bullpen arm worth watching: John Axford

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Yankees will non-tender Nix, Daley and Adams

General manager Brian Cashman announced Monday night that the Yankees plan to non-tender utility-infielder Jayson Nix, pitcher Matt Daley and infielder David Adams. Nix was always expected to be non-tendered; Daley was one on the bubble; Adams is a little surprising.

Nix, along with Chris Stewart before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday morning, were the only Yankees expected to be non-tended.

Nix worked out fairly well for the Yankees as a infielder that could play around the diamond. He wasn't the best of hitters, but that Yanks were forced to use him a lot in 2013 due to the injuries of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

Daley spent almost all of 2013 in the Yankees' farm system, moving around between Single, Double and Triple-A, pitching to a 2.02 ERA in 53 1/3 innings.

Adams made his way into the Yankees' lineup early in the season and showed some real promise before it all fell apart. He started to look lost at the plate, and his batting average dropped in almost every game he played.

With there only being three non-tenders, that also means the Yankees will tender contracts to Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Shawn Kelley and Brett Gardner.

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Bullpen arm worth watching: John Axford

Mariano Rivera is gone, and David Robertson doesn't appear to be the top candidate to close out games for the Yankees next season, although that had been the plan all along.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has said publicly this offseason that he isn't sure if Robertson is ready to be the closer, and that the Yanks are looking at all closer options out there.

As you might already know, the deadline for teams to tender contract to their players is 11:59pm EST tonight, and the St. Louis Cardinals are expected to non-tender reliever John Axford, making him a free-agent. In my opinion, Axford could be a great addition for to the bullpen for the Yankees, and it's leading me to hope the Cards non-tender him.

Grant Balfour and Joe Nathan are a couple of names that have come up this winter when talking about possible closer candidates for the Yankees.

While, yeah, those would be good people worthy of the job, I still think that Robertson has shown over the past couple of years as the Yankees' setup man that he has what it takes to be the closer. They don't need to sign a closer, when they already have one in Robertson.

No, what they need is a setup man, and Axford could be that guy. He was traded to the Cardinals from Milwaukee this past season, and he pitched very well for St. Louis down the stretch and through the playoffs, striking out 20 batters and walking seven in 16 innings for the Cardinals between the regular season and the postseason.

Of course, though, there would be some concern in signing Axford. He was among the best closers in the league from 2010 to 2011, but his struggles with the Brewers in 2012 and 2013 before being traded lost him his closer role with Milwaukee. He lost the ability to throw strikes, and became very inconsistent.

Axford is still able to get his fastball in the mid-90's, and he's got a good curveball to go with it. I would expect that he would draw interest from a handful of teams looking for bullpen help, like the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.

For the time being, I really don't see anyone on the roster that I would trust being the setup man behind Robertson, the closer. Axford would be a solid option for any team, and I think the Yankees could be that team.

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Yankees have decisions to make ahead of Monday's non-tender deadline

The Yankees will have until Monday's deadline to decide whether or not they want to tender a contract to a select few of players in order to make some room on the 40-man roster that currently stands at 39.

Brendan Ryan and Brian McCann still have to be added, meaning that moves are going to be happening within the next couple of days.

They may not all by via a non-tender, as some could be designated for assignment and pass through waivers completely to remain with the organization, but the Yankees will need to make decisions on several players when clearing room on the roster.

Here are a few players that the Yanks could clear of the roster tomorrow:

Chris Stewart -- After signing Brian McCann, the Yankees are now supplied with a handful of catchers that would seem to be more useful options than Stewart. With McCann being the starter, Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine are expected with battle it out in Spring Training for the backup job, with JR Murphy also sitting down in Triple-A.

We've heard some recent rumors that the Yankees could be trying to work out a new contract with Stewart in order to avoid arbitration. Stewart is also said to be drawing some trade interest, so the Yanks could decide to tender him a contract and trade him away for what ever they can get. However, I expect the Yanks to non-tender Stewart.

Jayson Nix -- He worked out well as a utility defender for the Yankees, but with Ryan now signed for the next couple of years, I don't see there be any fit for Nix on the roster. If they really wanted to, the Yanks could find another player like Nix on a minor league deal, but they also signed Yamaico Navarro not long ago, so there might not be any need for another infielder. Nix is also eligible for arbitration this year, and is expected to earn a raise, which also makes him worth letting go.

Others -- If the Yankees feel it to be necessary, they could non-tender a contract to Eduardo Nunez. To me, re-signing Ryan on a two-year deal means that Nunez isn't involved in the Yankees' future plans to replace Derek Jeter when he retires. They don't actually have to non-tender him, but I'm sure there would be some trade interest in a relatively young infielder with some potential. Could possibly trade him, maybe a non-tender, but unlikely.

David Huff and Brett Marshall are another pair players that could see themselves being axed off the roster. Marshall is expected to be one of the pitchers battling for the fifth spot in the rotation in the spring, but for the moment, he's already behind David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno in the competition. Could make a case to non-tender, but it wouldn't be very strong.

Huff would add a decent left-handed arm out of the bullpen next season. I could see him making the Opening Day roster as long as he can put together a decent Spring Training. The crowed 40-man roster might mean he has to be moved off, though, and it would be more likely to see him DFA'd, rather than non-tendered.

Likely tenders: Brett Gardner, Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Shawn Kelly and Cervelli are all up for arbitration this winter, and the Yankees are likely to tender them contracts in hopes to avoid going to arbitration.

Matt Swartz for MLB Trade Rumors predicts that all will earn raises after their 2013 performances. After a solid offensive and defensive year, Gardner is predicted to about $4 million next season; Robertson should get around $5.5 million; Nova should be a $2.8 million; Kelly could make $1.5 million after a good season as a late-inning pitcher for the Yankees; and Cervelli figures to be at $1 million.

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