The New York Yankees left the American League Division Series with a familiar problem and a thinner bullpen than the one that carried them into October.
David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough are all free agents, a group that accounted for four of the five Yankees relievers who worked at least 55 innings in 2026.
Brent Headrick is one of the few established arms still under contract, and Fernando Cruz is trying to rehab a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament without surgery.
That leaves the late innings as the clearest hole on a roster whose starting rotation is otherwise crowded.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller has the Yankees filling that hole by signing left-hander Adrián Morejón.
In his October 7 offseason guide, Miller lists re-signing Bednar as the first bullpen priority and then names Morejón the best reliever available this winter, slotting both of them into a projected 2027 Opening Day pen alongside Headrick, Kevin Ginkel, Yerry De Los Santos, Carlos Lagrange, Clarke Schmidt and Cruz.
Miller frames the Padres left-hander as more than a complementary piece. He could close after years of setting up for Robert Suárez and Mason Miller, or he could take the eighth-inning work Blackburn handled in 2026.
The case rests on consistency rather than a single spike. Over the past three seasons, few relievers have been as reliably dominant.
Morejón leans on a sinker, but the rest of a four-pitch mix held up in 2026, when he struck out more than 100 batters.
That combination gives New York a left-handed weapon it does not currently have in the late innings, and it fits a winter in which the rotation is deep enough that Brian Cashman can spend almost entirely on the pen.
The price will not be modest. Some evaluators believe Morejón can approach a $100 million contract if the market treats him as a multi-year high-leverage arm rather than a conventional setup man.
Bednar is expected to chase something nearer four years and $66 million after a 35-save season with a 2.47 ERA, and Miller has either him or Raisel Iglesias in the $15 million to $17 million average-annual-value range.
Pairing a Bednar return with a nine-figure commitment to Morejón would be an expensive way to rebuild the back end, but it matches the shape of the need. The Yankees are not hunting a fifth starter.
They are trying to replace most of a bullpen, and Miller’s projection treats Morejón as the signing that does the heaviest lifting.
