Yankees Could Move On From Disappointing Reliever

Could Yankees Say Goodbye to Leiter Jr.?

While breaking down the Yankees' entire 40-man roster at the onset of the offseason, the New York Post's Greg Joyce noted that right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. is a potential non-tender candidate after a rough 2025 campaign that led to him being omitted from the ALDS roster.

"It often seemed as if Leiter was let down by the defense, though the reliever did not always help himself, either," Joyce wrote. "Left off the ALDS roster and at least enters the non-tender conversation."

Leiter's Yankees Tenure

New York acquired Leiter Jr. from the Chicago Cubs at the 2024 trade deadline for a pair of prospects in right-handed pitcher Jack Neely and infielder Ben Cowles.

Leiter Jr. was a key piece of the Cubs' bullpen in 2022 and 2023, logging a 3.75 ERA over 132 innings during that timeframe, but that dropped to 4.21 in 36 1/3 frames in 2024 before he was sent to the Yankees.

New York was hopeful that a change of scenery would help Leiter Jr. rediscover his magic, but he instead posted a subpar 4.98 ERA across 21 2/3 innings down the stretch of the regular season. He did, however, come up clutch in the playoffs with a 1.69 ERA in 5 1/3 innings.

The 34-year-old got off to a fast start in 2025, boasting a 3.18 ERA in April, but it ballooned up to marks of 4.91 and 5.63 in May and June, respectively.

Leiter made just three appearances in July due to a leg injury before returning in early August. He finished out that month strong with a 3.24 ERA, but September was a nightmare for him with a 9.53 ERA, which led to him not sticking around with the Yankees for the ALDS.

In the end, Leiter Jr. finished the season with a 4.84 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.

Should Yankees Keep Leiter Jr.?

With both Luke Weaver and Devin Williams set to become free agents this offseason, the Yankees have a newfound need for right-handed arms at the backend of their bullpen alongside David Bednar and Camilo Doval.

The issue for Leiter Jr., though, is that he hasn't proven himself capable of filling a major role for New York moving forward. While some of his advanced metrics are impressive, such as his hard-hit rate against of 33.3 percent, he hasn't generated enough positive results for that to truly come into play.

With a projected arbitration salary of $3 million, per MLB Trade Rumors, the Yankees may be better off saving that money by non-tendering Leiter Jr. and using it elsewhere.

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