Yankees Put Clay Holmes On Notice & Will Get "creative" With Closer Role

You can only f*ck up so many times and expect to keep your job. That’s how it works in the real world, and it’s finally happening in Yankee land. Clay Holmes now has 11 blown saves, and that’s just not going to cut it for a team that is considered a “World Series favorite” going forward. It’s about time!

The Yankees have a closer problem, and it can’t be ignored anymore. Even Aaron Boone can’t just brush it off completely. Now he is just dancing around the issue (read more HERE) but that is just what we expect from Baboonie. 

“In the short term, just try to put these guys in the best position to be successful,” Boone said Wednesday. “How that shakes out may vary a little bit every night, but in the short term, that’s the way we’ll go. Want to support Clay through this. … The reality is he’s really not that far off from being the dominant guy we know he can be. But in the short term, we’ll certainly be a little creative down there.”

Bust out your coloring books and crayons, it’s arts and crafts time boys and girls! Seriously, this is going to be a mix and match situation. Considering we are in the home stretch of the season, this experimentation is not a comfortable place to be in. So what’s Baboonie going to do?

The Yankees “options” include names like Jake Cousins who I admit I am intrigued by. He has closer-like stuff but not a ton of experience in this role. He’s also allowed a run in three straight appearances which can’t be ignored. Every game matters right now. Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver could also be options but again not a lot of experience and I don’t think they are as appealing of an option as Cousins. I know Mark Leiter Jr is another name floated as a possibility but I’m a hard pass there…..he and his 6.08 ERA can take a seat next to Holmes on the bench.

Last winter there were so many rumors floating around about the Yankees looking to upgrade their closer and it didn’t happen. At the trade deadline they only added two relievers, there unfortunately wasn’t a market to upgrade this season….and now the Yankees are scrambling to put a band aide fix on this.

Now the Yankees will get creative because they honestly don’t have other options. Maybe Holmes can “earn” his closer role back like Boone hinted at but either way…..the Yankees need to make some tough decisions over the winter and reinforce the bullpen no matter what.

If we want a real “creative” solution, why not expand on the Holmes decision to also include getting rid of Brian Cashman and Boone? 

#wishfulthinking

–Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa