The New York Yankees have had some key injuries to the rotation, including ace Gerrit Cole.
The Yankees have lost Cole for the entire 2025 season as he underwent Tommy John surgery, while reigning Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is also injured. Although New York is without two starting pitchers, insider Ken Rosenthal says it’s unlikely the Yankees will look to sign or trade for another starter.
“It seems to me, that they don’t like what is out there,” Rosenthal said on Fair Territory. “What is out there is Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson and Spencer Turnbull. Brian Cashman raised eyebrows around the industry and especially in media circles, when he said the luxury tax is a concern. They are already over the Steve Cohen line. They are going to have to pay 110% tax on any player they sign. So, Lance Lynn at $5 million is really Lance Lynn at $11 million…
“It seems to me that they aren’t enamored with the options out there and making a trade at this time of the year is generally difficult,” Rosenthal added.
With the Yankees not wanting to spend money, and also not interested in potential trade candidates, Rosenthal expects New York to fill the holes internally.
The Yankees Opening Day rotation is expected to be Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman, and the fifth spot will be a competition between Will Warren, Carlos Carrasco, and Allan Winans.
Yankees GM Says Luxury Tax a Real Concern
A big reason why New York is unlikely to add another starting pitcher is due to the luxury tax concern.
The Yankees are above the luxury tax, so adding more money is tough. With that, general manager Brian Cashman says it’s unlikely his team will sign another pitcher.
“(When) it’s double the money, obviously it makes it less likely to be a more realistic chance because we’re already so committed,” Cashman said. “But we’ll see. We’ll walk through and talk through everything that presents itself. But again, it’s going to be very limited at this portion of the campaign.”
Cashman also says if they do end up signing someone, it will take them a while to get ramped up.
“It makes it more difficult when somebody’s not involved in a camp — our camp or anywhere else,” Cashman said. “With the window narrowing on the season, ours starting on March 27th, that makes it more difficult to onboard anybody, especially pitching. … It just takes a while to get guys going and ramped up and into competition.”
Ultimately, the Yankees are likely to go into the 2025 MLB season with their current rotation.
Fried Becomes Yankees Ace
With Cole set for Tommy John surgery, New York will turn to Fried to be their ace.
Fried knows replicating the success of Cole will be tough, but he is confident in his skills.
“At the end of the day, no one is Gerrit Cole, right?” Fried said. “I’ve got to take the ball every time that I take the ball. It doesn’t matter if he was on the mound or not. Realistically, it’s just about doing my job. It’s going out there and making sure that, when I take the ball, we have a really good chance to win that day.”
Fried signed an eight-year $218 million deal with the Yankees this offseason.
Insider Explains Why Yankees Are Unlikely to Add Another Pitcher to Replace Cole