Ryan Yarbrough explains why Yankee return was the ‘perfect fit’ in free agency

This offseason was a different story than the last for Ryan Yarbrough.

Last winter was a bit of a roller coaster as he had to wait until late Feb. to land a deal with the Blue Jays, but he opted out after being removed from the roster a month later.

Three days later he would land in the Bronx, where he stuck the entire season.

The southpaw missed two months due to a right oblique strain, but served as an extremely valuable swing-man for the Yankees when healthy.

He posted a 4.36 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 19 appearances (eight starts).

Yarbrough drew early interest from numerous teams early this offseason, but he ultimately opted to land back with the Bombers on another one-year deal.

“They called early and were aggressive,” he said on the Foul Territory podcast. “You’re always curious because you can add value and see where you fit in and hope to be back, but after free agency last year I didn’t have any real expectations.

“It was just kind of waiting to see how the market develops, so the fact that they wanted to jump early and get it done, I was very excited -- we enjoyed New York last year, they know who I am and how I can help, so it was the perfect fit.”

The 33-year-old is expected to fill a similar role heading into this season.

While more additions can be made in the coming months, Yarbrough provides the Yanks with insurance for a rotation that will be without three key pieces to begin the season.

Gerrit Cole likely won’t be back from Tommy John until mid-May, Carlos Rodon is expected to miss at least the first few weeks after undergoing elbow surgery last month, and Clarke Schmidt isn’t expected to return until sometime during the second half.

Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, and Will Warren currently make up New York’s rotation.

Yarbrough is a candidate to jump into that open fifth spot, but they could also make an addition via free agency or trade, which would bounce him to a long-relief role.

Either way, he’s preparing to help this team in anyway he can.

“I know they’re going to ask a lot of different things out of me,” Yarbrough said.