{"id":893310,"date":"2026-10-24T18:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T18:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/893310\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T18:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T18:36:11","slug":"what-makes-yankees-matt-blake-extension-such-a-smart-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/893310\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes Yankees&#8217; Matt Blake Extension Such a Smart Move"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9u\">If there&#8217;s one issue with the New York Yankees, it&#8217;s that their front office&#8217;s infrastructure feels stale. Seinfeld had a few more months before the series finished up when Brian Cashman was hired. Michael Fishman, the assistant general manager, has been around since 2005, and Randy Levine has been around since 2000. Not to mention, Aaron Boone has been around for almost a full decade.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9z\">For what feels like an archaic foundation up top, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/yankees\/onsi\/3-reasons-why-yankees-can-t-afford-to-lose-matt-blake-01m4a1cj55bz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Blake has been a breath of fresh air<\/a>. Thankfully, he&#8217;ll be around a little while longer.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"a4\">According to the New York Post&#8217;s Jon Heyman, Blake has accepted a three-year deal. For all the change the Yankees need, he&#8217;s the one name that has to stick around.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Yankees and pitching coach Matt Blake have agreed on a three-year extension. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Joelsherman1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@Joelsherman1<\/a> reported yesterday the sides were moving toward a deal<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JonHeyman\/status\/2113996647516770739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 24, 2026<\/a>Blake&#8217;s magic<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"aj\">At some point, teams might start calling for him to manage. That just won&#8217;t be this year. The Yankees have gotten as far as they have recently on the backs of their pitching, and turning guys like Paul Blackburn and Clay Holmes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/yankees\/onsi\/paul-blackburn-quietly-changing-narrative-around-him-right-now-01kwpe6pyyp7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">into high-leverage relievers<\/a> is due in part to Blake&#8217;s magic.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ao\">Since 2020, Blake&#8217;s first year with the Yankees, the team has had one of the best staffs in baseball despite turnover. The Yankees are third in ERA in baseball. Their 3.69 ERA is behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers during this span.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"at\">Their 115 pitching WAR, according to FanGraphs, is 4th in MLB. They&#8217;re behind the same two teams, but the Philadelphia Phillies lead the pack in that category.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ay\">This year may have been one of his best seasons as pitching coach. Reclamation projects like Blackburn and Brent Headrick kept the bullpen together.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m5q70jsky2nbw3jrhw.jpg\" alt=\"New York Yankees pitcher Brent Headrick\" title=\"New York Yankees pitcher Brent Headrick\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"ba\"\/><\/p>\n<p>New York Yankees pitcher Brent Headrick (47) delivers in the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game one of the ALDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Tropicana Field.  | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bg\">Headrick had a 2.18 ERA in 81 games this season, while Blackburn had a 1.59 ERA in 62 games. The beauty of Blackburn is that he was getting garbage-time innings as early as May this season. He didn&#8217;t emerge as a high-leverage reliever until midsummer.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bl\">This really has been the theme for the Yankees under Blake, too. They seem to get the most out of guys who, otherwise, were castoffs for their old teams. Just look at their closer situation since Blake&#8217;s hiring.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bq\">When Aroldis Chapman faltered, they turned Clay Holmes into a stellar option for the ninth inning. Then, when Holmes struggled, Luke Weaver helped lead the Yankees&#8217; pen to a World Series.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"bv\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/yankees\/onsi\/ranking-yankees-biggest-offseason-needs-01m4hngtvnph\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keeping Blake around was smart business<\/a>. It&#8217;s hard to say the same about the rest of the front office, though. He has been a bright spot, while others are just the status quo.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"c0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/yankees\/onsi\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Get Yankees On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:click=\"q-DyTSUUeL.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"c6\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there&#8217;s one issue with the New York Yankees, it&#8217;s that their front office&#8217;s infrastructure feels stale. Seinfeld&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-893310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}