Houdini hangs it up.

 

So Dave Robertson has finally retired. The very last Yankee on the very last Yankees world championship team has hung up his spikes, which in any universe where moral order still remained would make this organization hang its collective head in shame.

He was called "Houdini," a great, old-fashioned nickname for his ability to wriggle out of the most impossible situations. I seem to have some recollection that he wasn't well-liked, for some clubhouse faux pas or another—which to me as a fan means exactly nothing. 

What was most remarkable about Houdini was his willingness and ability to fit in pretty much anywhere. He was one of the last guys out of the bullpen in 2009, just his second year in the majors, but pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings in the postseason, including wins in the 11th inning against Minnesota and the 13th against the Angels, that wild and wonderful October.

A set-up man by 2011, he went 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA. After The Great One retired, he became the closer, and if he was no  Mariano Rivera, he still had a 3.08 ERA and 39 saves. The Yanks responded by letting him go as a free agent to the White Sox. After a couple decent seasons closing in Chicago, the Yanks brought him back—in one of the better trades Brian Cashman ever made—for the 2017 stretch run, where he went 5-0, with a 1.03 ERA.

He was big again in the playoffs that year, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the comeback in the Wild Card game against the Twins, and surrendering just one run in 4 2/3 against the Indians. He did get hit hard in Game 6 of the ALCS in Houston, turning a 3-1 deficit into 7-1, but there were, let us say—cough, cheating—extenuating circumstances—cheating, cough—in that series.

The Yanks let him go again after 2018, even though he still had plenty in the tank. He had 20 saves and a 2.40 ERA for the Cubs and Phils in 2022, and as late as 2023, he went 4-2, 2.05, with 14 saves in a stint with the Mets. 

Perhaps the best indication of just how valuable—and valued—he was, was that he was on postseason clubs in 10 of his 17 big-league seasons. In some 19 October series, he had 14 excellent ones, altogether going 6-1 with a save and a 3.40 ERA.  

Yet what's maybe most telling about Dave Robertson's career is not so much anything to do with Robertson himself, but how it reflects on Cashman and the Yankees.

ranger's revealing find about the fate of Yankees' draft picks stands out most of all, I think, in demonstrating how constantly Cashie has just let useful players walk off the team for nothing, or a handful of (not-so-magical) beans. 

Sonny Gray-for-Shedd Long was maybe the most stunning example that ranger dredges up. But it's also telling that The Brain let Robertson walk—twice—without getting so much as a plugged nickel for him. When you constantly tell yourself that the playoffs are just "a crapshoot," you fail to understand just how critical a stacked bullpen is to winning a World Series in this era.  

Even more than a lack of contact hitters, a deep bench, or a punch-out starter, the Yanks' lack of bullpen depth has come back to bite them when the leaves turn. Again and again and again—in 2001, 2004, 2007, 2017, 2020, 2024—this has proved critical to them falling short.  

So long, David Robertson. We Yankees fans will always be grateful, even if the nepo nabobs who run our team probably can't remember who you are.