Why the Yankees Should Bring Back David Robertson Again

Recently the Yankees announced that reliever Chad Green would undergo Tommy John surgery. He is now done for the rest of this season. Aroldis Chapman and Jonathan Loaisiga are on the injured list and have struggled this season as well. Another middle reliever Lucas Luetge (5.25 ERA) hasn’t pitched well in 2022 either. While JP Sears and Clarke Schmidt have shown promise; the anchors are currently Michael King, Miguel Castro, Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes. This isn’t good enough for them to get back to the World Series. I believe it makes sense for the Yankees to bring back David Robertson for a third stint.

The Cubs Were Never Going to Contend This Year

Before the season even began, the Chicago Cubs weren’t going to be a big factor in the pennant race. The Cubs are currently in third place in the NL Central and are rebuilding. While third place is considered a good thing for a rebuilding team, the teams behind them are the embarrassing Pirates and Reds. The Cubs won a World Series with a formidable farm system and will be looking to follow the same blueprint. As of right now, the Cubs farm system is ranked 18^th with two players inside the top-100 prospect list. Given the direction the Cubs want to go with their rebuild, David Robertson is now expendable.

Emerging as Chicago’s Closer and Returning to Pre-injury Form

David Robertson is having a nice season for the Cubs. He’s emerged as the team’s closer and has six saves in seven opportunities along with an ERA of 1.76. There were a lot of questions on how productive he’d be. Robertson had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and had suffered setbacks during the recovery process. He essentially lost three seasons due to this issue. He didn’t pitch in the majors again until late in the 2021 season after returning from the Olympics.

Robertson has emerged as the teams closer and has six saves in seven opportunities along with an ERA of 1.76. He has been a bright spot on an otherwise dismal team. He is currently 37 years old and seems to be bucking the trend of pitchers struggling at age 35. Given that the Cubs have him at peak value, they could command a mid-level prospect for him.

Robertson Has Had Success With the Yankees in Two Stints

David Robertson has had success in two separate stints with the Yankees. The first stint last from 2008-2014. He helped them win the 2009 World Series and made his only All-Star appearance with them in 2011. After Mariano Rivera retired, he did an admirable job as their closer recording 39 saves.

After one and a half seasons with the White Sox, Robertson was traded back to the Yankees beginning another stint in New York. He would once again be a trusted arm in the bullpen and help the Yankees reach the postseason in 2017 and 2018. In one and a half seasons with the Yankees, Robertson made 97 appearances and went 13-3 and had an ERA of 2.50. He also picked up six saves during that time.

It Can Work Again

Given the injuries and struggles of some pitchers in the Yankees bullpen; it makes too much to bring him back for a third stint. With the Cubs, he seems to have returned to pre-injury form. Having another pitcher who is capable of closing games will make the bullpen significantly better. Although Clay Holmes is the closer, it wouldn’t hurt to put Robertson in sometimes to close the game to rest him. David Robertson knows what it takes to win a championship and the Yankees would benefit from his experience again. It worked in 2017 and 2018, I believe that this move can benefit the Yankees again for a third time in 2022.

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