WHAT COULD DONTRELLE WILLIS OFFER?

Back in November, one of our writers, Jeana Bellezza suggested that maybe a pitcher like Dontrelle Willis would be a nice fit on the New York Yankees, a cheap alternative that we could observe and work with to help the Yankees win a championship in 2012. Her take was a smart one, a different angle no one really picked up on. She wrote:

"Time to face the facts, he is not a starter anymore but he is still a valuable weapon to a team as a reliever. He is pretty dominant against lefties posting 10.6 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9, good for a 10/1 K/BB ratio in 75.2 innings in 2011. His lack of experience as a reliever scares me a little, but not enough to shy away from a minor league contract and give him a shot."

Read IF YOU TRADE FOR IT... THEY WILL COME. At the time, not a lot of publications were suggesting this, but Bleeding Yankee Blue was, and it was dismissed because, after all, many said "You're a fan site, what do you know?" Well, we know baseball and we know the Yankees and it just so happens the the Yankees did in fact offer Dontrelle Willis a non-roster invite to Spring Training, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Read him HERE. Willis at the time was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies so, of course he wasn't going anywhere, until now...maybe.

Dontrelle Willis was released by the Phillies just a few short days ago. Read HERE. Sherman's suggesting that because Willis is out of a job, perhaps Willis would give the Yankees a call to see if the offer still stands.Look, my take on this is simple, I've always liked Dontrelle Willis, coming over as a non-roster invite would only offer the New York Yankees a look. At this point the Yankees have many great weapons and adding Willis won't do much at this point. If the Yankees never made the trade for Michael Pineda and didn't sign Hiroki Kuroda, I'd be concerned that maybe Willis could contribute. If the Yankees didn't give guys like Clay Rapada minor league deals, I'd suggest maybe Willis would help. But I like what the New York Yankees have right now. Even with the addition of someone like Andy Pettitte now, all Dontrelle Willis does is perhaps gives us an extra arm in the arsenal.

BYB doesn't have a crystal ball, but we know our team...that's the bottom line ladies and gentlemen. I applaud Jeana for her instincts...good job.

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