How’s this for irony? The pitcher who ended the New York Yankees’ 2024 season is interested in taking the mound for them.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Yankees and free agent starting pitcher Walker Buehler have “mutual interest” in a possible deal. Buehler has completed his seventh season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning a pair of World Series rings in the process; the second, of course, came at the Yankees’ expense on October 30, when he earned a save in the ninth inning of Game 5.
“What an amazing story would be if Buehler winds up pitching in 2025 where he threw the final pitch of the World Series in 2024,” Morosi said. “I’ve been told there is at least some mutual interest between Walker Buehler and the New York Yankees. And while that would be an amazing storyline, surely it’s not unprecedented that you would see someone join a team that they vanquished in the World Series the previous year.”
Buehler, 30, became an ace-caliber pitcher for the Dodgers from 2018 to 2021; over those four seasons, the right-hander posted a 2.82 ERA, 3.16 FIP, and 0.99 WHIP while accumulating a 39-13 record, 14.4 fWAR, and 620 strikeouts against 137 walks. In 2021, he was named to the All-MLB First Team by going 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA and 212 strikeouts.
The 2024 postseason would see the return of Buehler’s dominant form; before then, he underwent Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon repair that ended his 2022 season and cost him all of 2023, and he struggled to shake of the rust during the 2024 regular season (1-6, 5.38 ERA in 16 starts). After a rough start in Game 3 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres (six runs allowed in five innings), the righty fired blanks the rest of the way with scoreless starts against the New York Mets (Game 3 of the NLCS) and Yankees (Game 3 of the World Series) before the climactic save in Game 5. All six runs Buehler allowed against the Padres came in the second inning, so 14 of the 15 innings he pitched in the playoffs were scoreless, including the last 13 in a row.
Despite the rough regular season, Buehler’s fantastic postseason and previous track record has sent him into free agency with plenty of suitors. And as Morosi revealed, one of those suitors is the Bronx Bombers.
While the Yankees already have a strong rotation, it was prone to inconsistency throughout the year; Gerrit Cole (who missed the first two months), Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes Jr., Clarke Schmidt, and even AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil either dealt with injuries or stretches of ineffectiveness. This has additionally made it difficult to identify a clear No. 2 starter behind Cole. If the Yankees were to sign Buehler, those issues would be rectified, in addition to putting less pressure on the rest of the staff.
The extent of interest both the Yankees and Buehler have in each other isn’t entirely clear at the moment (Morosi said “at least some mutual interest”), while New York also has many other pressing needs besides the rotation (most notably signing Juan Soto). But if the two parties are serious about their interest, then the Yankees can make a fantastic upgrade to their pitching corps.
