Who will close in 2015?
While general manager Brian Cashman chooses between eighth-inning wonder Dellin Betances, recently signed lefty Andrew Miller, a reliever-to-be-acquired or a closer committee, Robertson believes Betances can do the job.
"Absolutely, he’s got the skills," Robertson said Friday on ESPN's The Michael Kay Show. "He has the ability to close. It can be [intimidating] at times. For me, it was just a matter of having that time in difficult situations [in the eighth inning] and knowing how to get out of them. My mental approach had to be the same. When I was pitching the eighth [inning], I learned how to get guys out when I needed to.
"I tried not to think about [following retired great Mariano Rivera] as much as it got brought up. I tried to learn as much as I could from Mariano. I knew he was going to be going [and I know] for a whole year I was probably going to have to step into his shoes. I had been good in the eighth inning. And I had to prove I could be good in the ninth."
Betances will have to prove it, too.
While taking over for retired Rivera, Robertson was 4-5 with a 3.08 ERA last season, and he converted 39 of 44 save opportunities. He ranked third among American League relievers in saves and fifth with 96 strikeouts. But Cashman, believing the Yankees had enough bullpen depth, let Robertson, 29, take a deal that will pay him $10 million in 2015, with an additional $1 million added to his salary each year through 2018.
Cashman admitted he lied by saying publicly the Yankees were still trying to sign Robertson, but he did it to drive up Robertson's price and repay the homegrown reliever for his seven years in New York. Robertson said the money was important to him.
"It was more about taking care of my family and knowing where I’m going to be," he said. "With the Yankees, I was on year-to-year contracts. Now it‘s nice to know I’ll have a home for four years. I needed to now I would be guaranteed a certain amount and I would set my family up for life.
"Obviously, I can’t complain about the financial status of the contract. It’s crazy to think that I’m one of the guys who is getting one of these contracts. That hasn’t really sunk in yet."
Robertson has experienced the reaction from Yankees fans on social media, and surprisingly only a handful have been critical, he said.
"It’s been really positive," he said. "A few people have had some rude stuff to say, but 90 percent of it has been positive. I loved playing in New York, but it just wasn’t in the cards this year. I’m thrilled that people are genuinely happy for me."
Meanwhile, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn was willing to take the risk the Yankees weren't.
“There is not a tremendous track record on reliever multi-year contracts working out well, so we wanted to be really careful about where we allocated those funds and the player we would choose to take that risk,” Hahn told the Chicago Tribune. “His consistency, his durability, his makeup and work ethic made us a lot more comfortable about David being that guy to take that risk on.
“He really checked a lot of boxes for us in terms of having swing-and-miss stuff, profiling for the ballpark, filling when needed a multi-inning role, as well as his character and what he means in the clubhouse.”
And did the Yankees make a mistake by not assembling a shutdown bullpen of Robertson, Betances and Miller?
"I don’t know," Robertson said. "We’ll find out in time."
