By Josh Boyd
July 16, 2003

Less than a week after narrowly missing out on acquiring Ugueth Urbina from the Rangers for pitching prospects Jorge DePaula and Alex Graman, the Yankees looked across the East River on Wednesday and picked up Armando Benitez for a trio of young righthanders: Jason Anderson, Anderson Garcia and Ryan Bicondoa.

The Yankees weren't forced to surrender the same quality of prospects the Marlins did for Urbina because they'll pay the remaining $2.729 million of Benitez' $6.75 million salary for 2003. He becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

Benitez, 30, has regained his dominant form after a poor start this season and was the Mets' lone all-star. He has blown seven saves in 28 opportunities, including three in a four-game stretch in early April. But Benitez has gone 3-0, 1.51 with 13 saves since April, and is 3-3, 3.10 overall with 21 saves. He has a 50-24 strikeout-walk ratio in 49 innings, and opponents are hitting just .223 against him. Armed with an explosive upper-90s fastball, Benitez will move into a setup role for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. He's one of baseball's most consistently dominant relievers, with a 29-30, 3.05 record and 197 saves in 540 career games. He has averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings while shackling hitters to the tune of a .188 average.

Anderson, 24, made the Yankees' Opening Day roster when Rivera started the year on the disabled list. He posted a 6.52 ERA in April and has been on the Columbus shuttle since, going back and forth between the majors and Triple-A three times. In his first taste of the majors, Anderson has gone 1-0, 4.79 in 21 appearances, with a 9-14 K-BB ratio and .280 opponent average. He hasn't given up a run in his six appearances in Triple-A. Drafted in the 10th round out of the University of Illinois in 2000, Anderson has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the system after moving to the bullpen at the outset of the 2002 season. His velocity has soared into the mid- to upper 90s with the shift to the pen. The Mets will continue to groom him as a setup man.

Garcia owns one of the best fastballs in the low Class A Midwest League, reaching 96 mph regularly. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2001, the 22-year-old has gone 3-6, 3.32 with a 62-36 K-BB ratio and .208 opponent average in 76 innings. Garcia projects as another late-inning power reliever. He hasn't shown the ability to spin a breaking ball consistently for strikes and his delivery might be better suited for the pen.

Bicondoa, 24, signed as a fifth-year senior out of Western Kentucky prior to the 2002 draft. He had a stunning pro debut at short-season Staten Island, going 6-4, 1.90 with a 94-7 K-BB ratio in 85 innings. He hasn't been as impressive in 2003, going 3-2, 3.54 at high Class A Tampa. His K-BB ratio has dipped to 30-20 in 48 innings as he has been bothered by a nagging arm injury that sidelined him for a month. He works with an average fastball and plus changeup.