MLB Rumors: New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino have three year deal

MLB Rumors: The New York Yankees and Adam Ottavino have agreed to a three year, $27 million deal, per the national baseball reporters on Twitter. Ottavino, 33, was one of the top relievers on the free agent market, after putting up a 2.43 ERA and 2.74 FIP in 77.2 IP for the Colorado Rockies last year.

Ottavino was reportedly a player of interest for the Texas Rangers, who are in the market for relief help, though in their rebuilding situation committing $27 million to a 33 year old reliever would be a bit unexpected. I suspect Texas was in contact with Ottavino in case the market didn’t develop as he had hoped, and they were able to be the high bidder with what they considered a reasonable offer.

Ottavino has been a bit up and down in his career — he had a 5.06 ERA and a 5.16 FIP in 2017 for Colorado — but when he’s on he’s one of the best relief pitchers in the game, with a slider that is near unhittable. Ottavino struck out 112 of the 309 batters he faced in 2018.