The Yankees’ pennant hopes in 2025 sustained a significant blow when the team announced that their ace, Gerrit Cole, would undergo Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The procedure will end the 34-year-old’s 2025 season, barring a miraculous recovery. Thus, the Yankees are down two of their top starters before the regular season even begins.
Luis Gil is out for at least three months after suffering a lat strain, leaving the Yankees with four cemented starters: Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Marcus Stroman.
Hanging on to Stroman becomes a blessing, of sorts, after the Yankees tried to trade him all winter. The No. 5 spot, though, that now has opened due to Cole’s injury, is up for grabs, and a team looking to get back to the World Series has to find a legitimate option.
This is not the Yankees that you grew up with. Yes, Aaron Judge is the most feared slugger in baseball, but the departure of Juan Soto has left the supporting cast around him thin unless the inconsistent Cody Bellinger and the seemingly declining Paul Goldschmidt can raise their level.
Simply put, they are not going to bash the opposition into submission. Instead, they were going to ride their superior pitching toward winning a second-straight pennant in a very winnable American League.
New York has a shutdown bullpen, boosted by the acquisition of star closer Devin Williams. Their starting rotation was one of the best in the game, but now, it is pedestrian.
How do they address the open slot? Here are 12 options that could potentially emerge this season:
In-House
Will Warren: As it stands, this is the 25-year-old right-hander’s job to lose considering he has been brilliant in spring training. Across four appearances (three starts) he is 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA, 12 strikeouts, and a minuscule 0.600 WHIP in 11.2 innings of work.
Granted, it’s one thing to do this in spring training. It’s another to do it in the majors. He struggled in his pro debut last season, posting a 10.32 ERA across five starts and 22.2 innings.
Carlos Carrasco: Signed to a minor-league deal this winter, the veteran righty was supposed to be a last-resort option. Instead, the soon-to-be 38-year-old — who is coming off a failed reunion with Cleveland last season (5.64 ERA in 21 starts) — is a current finalist for the No. 5 job.
So far, he has been solid in spring, sporting a 2.35 ERA with six strikeouts in 7.2 innings.
Free Agents
Kyle Gibson: From a sheer innings-eating standpoint, the 37-year-old Gibson is as reliable as they come. He has averaged 162 innings per season since the start of the 2018 campaign.
His production, however, has not been so consistent. Gibson posted a 4.40 ERA over the last seven seasons, but things have slowly improved as of late. Following a nightmare stint with the Philadelphia Phillies where he sported a 5.05 ERA as a trade-deadline acquisition in 2021 and in 2022, his ERA has steadily decreased to 4.24 last year with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Lance Lynn: He pitched half a season with the Yankees in 2018 and could be called in to bolster the rotation one more time. The 37-year-old righty went 7-4 with a 3.84 ERA last year with the Cardinals, but in just 23 starts.
Understanding that there are concerns about his durability, Lynn has said that he is willing to serve as more of a swingman, but bringing him on as either a No. 5 option or as a spot starter to potentially expand to a six-man rotation if needed would be decent insurance to have.
Anthony DeSclafani: The 34-year-old righty missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing surgery on his forearm.
A fully healthy DeSclafani could be an intriguing No. 5 starter in New York. In 2021, he went 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 167.2 innings pitched with the San Francisco Giants, proving he can throw at an All-Star caliber when healthy. But he has thrown just 118.2 innings since then and has started 20 or more games just five times in the last 11 years.
Alex Wood: Another veteran undone by injury last season, Wood was limited to just nine starts with the Athletics due to arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder.
With a 3.78 career ERA, the 12-year veteran has the stuff to land a gig rounding out the bottom of a rotation, but his recent numbers have provided cause for concern. He has a 4.84 ERA dating back to the start of. the 2022 season.
Trade Market
Finding a legitimate arm on the trade market will force Yankees general manager Brian Cashman to play the long game. It is highly unlikely that any of these arms listed below will be available on the market during spring training and during the early portions of the season.
Dylan Cease: The Yankees have talked with the San Diego Padres about Cease in each of the last two offseasons, as AJ Preller continued to take calls on his pitchers this winter.
The 29-year-old right-hander got back on track in 2024, going 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA, a career-best 1.067 WHIP, and 224 strikeouts in 189 innings pitched. Preller reportedly wants to keep his team together, at least during the first half of the season, and understandably so. San Diego should be a playoff contender in 2025, but if things go south, Cease’s name will re-emerge on the trade market this summer.
Michael King: The former Yankee would have been a godsend for the Bronx Bombers had he not been a part of the package that landed Juan Soto for one season. King emerged as a legitimate starter in San Diego, going 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 173.2 innings — his first as a full-time starter.
Like Cease, the Padres floated King’s name on the trade market, but he will not be moved during the first half of the season.
Sandy Alcantara: Perhaps the biggest name that could potentially hit the trade market this year. It is not a question of whether Alcanatara’s days with the Miami Marlins are numbered but when. The 29-year-old will be the latest victim of the Marlins’ tired business model of developing elite talent only to trade them away for the next batch of prospects.
The haul for Alcantara will be steep, even though he missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. The 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner went 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts before regressing in 2023 to the tune of a 4.14 ERA in 28 starts before surgery was needed.
Luis Castillo: The Seattle Mariners have a number of young, controllable arms that promise to create one of the better rotations in the majors.
For a team that could clear some cap space to eventually bring on a big bat that is so desperately needed, Castillo becomes a prime trade candidate — which would not be much of a surprise considering the Mariners held trade talks about him this winter.
Over the last three seasons, the 32-year-old is 33-24 with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.117 WHIP. That’s top-of-the-rotation-type stuff that would take a load of pressure off Fried and Rodon.
Framber Valdez: In a way, the Astros tipped their hand on their approach when it comes to pending free agents entering the final year of their deal. When the AL West club got the indication that star outfielder Kyle Tucker would not re-sign with them, they traded him to the Chicago Cubs this offseason.
If they get the sense that Valdez does not want to return, he could be on the market this summer, too.
The 31-year-old has been nothing short of superb over the last four seasons, going 55-30 with a 3.08 ERA and 1.153 WHIP. While the 176.1 innings he threw last year were the lowest since 2021 (he dealt with elbow inflammation early in the year), he still boasted a 2.91 ERA and 169 strikeouts.
