The New York Yankees break up a doubleheader with the first-place Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, successful the primary recreation 2-0 behind eight shutout innings from Carlos Rodón and the thirty fifth save of the season by nearer David Bednar.
By dropping the second recreation 6-1, nevertheless, the Yankees have been eradicated from the race for the American League East pennant, and the Rays clinched it. The Yankees at the moment are locked into the AL’s high Wild Card spot, and can almost certainly face the Boston Crimson Sox in a best-of-three sequence at Yankee Stadium beginning Sept. 29.
With the common season winding down, the Yankees’ entrance workplace now should resolve what to do with Bednar, who performed a key function within the Yankees’ run to the postseason however turns into eligible without spending a dime company when the signing interval opens on Nov. 5.
Bednar recorded the second-best save whole of his profession, however the achievement hasn’t but earned him a contract dedication from Yankees common supervisor Brian Cashman.
With the bullpen skinny on confirmed arms and October now locked in, letting a better stroll to the open market with out a lot as an extension dialog raises questions on who closes video games for New York after this yr.
Bednar Constructed an Unlikely Path to Nearer Obligation
David Jeffrey Bednar was born Oct. 10, 1994, in Pittsburgh and grew up close by in Mars, Pennsylvania. San Diego took the 6-foot-1, 250-pound right-hander within the thirty fifth spherical of the 2016 draft out of Lafayette School, hardly the pedigree of a future big-league nearer.
Bednar debuted with the Padres on Sept. 1, 2019, then landed in Pittsburgh a little bit greater than a yr later as a part of a three-team commerce involving the Mets. He turned that chance into back-to-back All-Star nods and a league-leading 39 saves in 2023, changing into the nearer in a rebuilding Pirates bullpen.
A rocky 2024 and a quick demotion to Triple-A in 2025 threatened to derail that run, however New York wager on a bounce-back. The Yankees acquired the two-time All-Star reliever on July 31, 2025, sending Pittsburgh minor-league catchers Rafael Flores and Edgleen Pérez and outfielder Brian Sánchez in return. Bednar answered by posting a 2.19 ERA with 10 saves in 22 video games down the stretch in 2025.
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Yankees Weigh Bednar’s Free Company Future
Bednar signed a one-year, $9 million contract in January to keep away from arbitration, his ultimate season of membership management earlier than hitting the open market. He’s made good on it, posting a 2.54 ERA and 35 saves via 62 appearances this season, the second-highest whole of his profession behind his 39-save 2023 marketing campaign, with 74 strikeouts over 67 1/3 innings.
Bednar carries a 1.83 ERA over his final 30 outings, a run interrupted solely by a Sept. 16 blown save at Minnesota wherein each runs he allowed have been unearned.
Hypothesis surfaced in June that Bednar may very well be predicted to lose the nearer function to Fernando Cruz, however he held the job via the stretch run regardless.
No extension talks have surfaced publicly. Bleacher Report‘s Joel Reuter known as Bednar one of the dependable closers in baseball and floated a hypothetical three-year, $45 million deal as a “high precedence” reunion. MLB Commerce Rumors, which included Bednar on its checklist of 2026-27 MLB free brokers, gave him solely an honorable point out on its rankings of the winter’s high relievers.
Bednar must be eligible for a qualifying supply, having spent the whole 2026 season with New York and by no means having acquired one earlier than. The quantity of the MLB qualifying supply is estimated to be set at a projected $23.1 million this offseason, although relievers hardly ever draw the tag at that worth since multiyear nearer offers usually land beneath it.
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