The Yankees lost David Robertson to the Phillies, but they are still putting together another fearsome bullpen.
The team agreed to a deal to bring free agent Zach Britton back to The Bronx, pending a physical, a source confirmed to The Post on Saturday night.
Britton, who was acquired from the Orioles in a July trade, is set to get a deal that could be worth as much as $53 million over four years. Britton can opt out after the 2020 season if the Yankees don’t exercise an option for 2022 by the end of the second season.
Robertson, who chaired a players-only meeting late in the regular season during which they stiffed several members of the team’s coaching staff and other personnel, signed a free-agent deal with the Phillies.
The Yankees were focused on Britton (more so than they were on Robertson) for much of the offseason. Britton expressed a desire to return immediately after the season ended, saying he would rather have a chance to contend than be guaranteed a role as closer.
“After being here, maybe [closing is] not as important as I originally thought,’’ Britton said after the Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the ALDS. “I just want to win. Being in Baltimore this year was tough. Going to a team that is gonna win — I think — for a lot of years, this would obviously be one of the destinations I would want to be in, of course.”
Britton was at the top of the Yankees’ wish list when it came to relievers. They have also expressed interest in Adam Ottavino, the 33-year-old New York City native who had a breakout season with the Rockies in 2018.
Given Britton’s reasonable price tag, the Yankees could still add Ottavino, who struck out 13 batters per nine innings last season as he emerged as one of the top bullpen arms in the game.
Britton provides insurance as closer if Aroldis Chapman should miss any time due to injury. Ottavino doesn’t have closing experience.
The Yankees are hoping for even better results from Britton than they got last season, when he was coming back from surgery on his Achilles tendon, which was performed in December 2017.
In his first 13 appearances after the July 24 trade, Britton gave up 15 hits and seven walks in 13 ¹/₃ innings, striking out 12. He finished the regular season by allowing just two unearned runs, three hits and four walks over his final 10 appearances. He whiffed nine over 9 ²/₃ innings in that span.
His season ended in disappointment, though, when he gave up a home run to Boston’s Christian Vazquez that snuck over the short porch in right field in the decisive ALDS Game 4. The Yankees rallied, but couldn’t complete the comeback and lost 4-3.
Now they’re hoping Britton’s command, which improved down the stretch as he got further removed from the Achilles injury he suffered during an workout following the 2017 season gets sharper and he regains the form that made him an elite closer with the Orioles.
Britton will be part of a bullpen that includes not just Chapman, but Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder.
The pen figures to again be vital to the Yankees’ success, especially considering the frailty of parts of their rotation. CC Sabathia’s heart issues have given general manager Brian Cashman cause for concern and newly acquired lefty James Paxton has had health issues that have kept him from becoming an elite starter.
