The Yankees made a nice under-the-radar move today, reportedly signing Chan Ho Park to a one-year contract.
Park has had an interesting career. He is the first — and to date most successful — South Korea native to play in the majors, and was a solid starter for the Dodgers before cashing in on a huge free-agent contract with the Rangers, for whom he was just awful (5.46 was his lowest ERA in three-plus years there). His career looked to be over in 2007, when he made just one start for the Mets, struggled at AAA New Orleans and, after the Astros took a flier on him, at AAA Round Rock.
The resurrection came in 2008, when he returned to the Dodgers, this time in relief, a role he hadn’t been in since his rookie 1996 campaign. He continued his success with the Phillies last year, and now will be with his sixth team in six years (seven if you count his half-season in the minors for Houston).
The biggest thing that Park gives the Yankees roster is a veteran presence in the bullpen. Assuming they go with seven relievers, the staff will look like this:
- Rivera - closer
- Hughes or Chamberlain – setup/8th
- Marte - lefthanded specialist/setup
- Robertson - 6th or 7th inning setup
- Park - 6th or 7th inning setup
- Aceves - long relief/6th or 7th inning
- Gaudin - long relief/spot start
Ramirez
I like how Park gives them added flexibility to move guys around. That’s a much deeper bullpen than they started the season with last year, and with Jonathan Albaladejo, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan and Edwar Ramirez likely heading for AAA, there’s additional insurance if needed.
Sometimes these middle-relief deals have worked out for the Yankees (Mike Stanton, Tom Gordon), a lot of times they haven’t (LaTroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth, Chris Hammond, Paul Quantrill, Steve Karsay, et al). But this one is low-risk and, I think, high reward, especially since today’s teams regularly go through 10-12 relievers.