Yankees Sign Feliciano, Begin the Bullpen Rebuild

And we're back. Sorry for the two month hiatus, it's been a hectic two months at that. Back to business now though.

So back the Yankees. After watching the Red Sox sign Carl Crawford, trade for Adrian Gonzalez, sign Bobby Jenks and watching the Phillies swoop in and steal Cliff Lee, the Yankees went out and signed Russell Martin, Mark Prior and now Pedro Feliciano.

Not exactly an earth shattering move, but a great one nonetheless. With the signing of Feliciano, the Yankees get that second lefty in the 'pen that they've been searching for. And Feliciano is no slouch. He has pitched in New York, with that team in Queens, for the past eight seasons, breaking the franchise record and leading the National League in appearances by appearing in 86 games in 2008, 88 games in 2009 and 92 games in 2010.

"After I broke the record the first time, I just tried to put in my mind that I tried to break it again, and I did it," Feliciano said. "This past year I just put in my mind that if I could break it again I would do it. And I did it."

Feliciano, 34, doesn't think all the games will impact him going forward.

"Not at all," Feliciano said. "I work hard for every year. I don't let down and just do what I did last year. I want to keep proving I can do more than what I did last year."

Feliciano has been a late bloomer, which had a lot to do with ex-Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson instructing him to drop down to a low three-quarters delivery in 2004. Feliciano went to Japan in 2005 and when he returned to the Mets in 2006 he was a difference-maker against lefties.

"I had that in my mind," Feliciano said. "Before I dropped down, I was thinking, 'Next year I'm going to come a little more sidearm.' All of a sudden, they said, 'Let's drop you down.' They put in my mind that Buddy Groom and all those guys, they were average lefties, and then they dropped down and changed from average to one of the best. I started working out."

Lefties hit just .211 against him last season.

SI.com first reported the deal will be for two years with a team option for a third. It is expected to be in the $8 million range. The deal could be announced as soon as Friday.

Now onto the bullpen "rebuild" that the Yankees are trying to accomplish. After the Yankees got absolutely manhandled in the ALCS against the Texas Rangers in just about all facets of the game, they realized that their biggest deficiency in that series was their pitching. Their pitchers had a 6.58 ERA against the Rangers, surrendering 63 hits in 52 innings pitched. Part of the problem was that two of the key cogs in the bullpen, David Robertson and Boone Logan, had ERAs of 20.25 and 27.00 respectively.

CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Sergio Mitre and the enigma that is AJ Burnett combined for an ERA of 8.84 in the six games against the Rangers, nothing very comforting for the Yankees brass. Basically, their pitching staff was atrocious and since they really don't need a major upgrade in the rotation, unless Andy Pettitte decided to pack it in, they are going to try and load up the bullpen.

It has been rumored that the team is looking into signing left-handed setup man Brian Fuentes as well as right hander Grant Balfour and Rafael Soriano. Fuentes is a possibility and the team has been in discussions with his agent. Balfour may be less of a possibility because he is a Type A free agent, and thus the Yankees would have to give the Twins their first round draft pick if they signed Balfour. Soriano seems to just be talk because the Yankees have no interest in paying closer money for Soriano to set up Mariano Rivera, and Soriano will close somewhere. I guess since the Yankees are taking the patience approach that's just what we will have to be, patient. Hopefully the Yankees can make some moves that counter those great ones made by the Red Sox.