One of the Yankees‘ biggest strengths entering Spring Training was supposed to be their rotation, but injuries to Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil would seriously damper pre-season expectations.
It’s a staff that opened the year with Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco as their no. 3 and no. 5 starters, and the rotation somehow finished inside the top 10 in ERA and WAR in 2025.
That unfortunately didn’t translate to the ALDS, where the Blue Jays bludgeoned Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, with Cam Schlittler being the only starter who registered a quality start.
Rodon will begin the season on the injured list, and Gerrit Cole won’t be activated off it by Opening Day, which leaves some question of whether this staff will need to add a starter or not.
Whether it’s a small piece or a big fish, Brian Cashman will have to seriously consider the offseason options which could be bountiful especially on the trade market.
How Should the Yankees Address Potential Rotation Holes?
Despite the poor finish to the season from Max Fried, who was hammered by the Blue Jays in Toronto for a third time this season, the Yankees were likely elated with the season he put together.
The left-hander finished 8th in ERA (2.86) and WAR (4.8) on FanGraphs, as he set career-bests in both innings pitched and total strikeouts.
Improvements to his repertoire resulted in a 111 Stuff+, the fourth-best mark among qualified MLB starters in 2025, as he was able to combine excellent command with top-of-the-line pitch quality.
Cam Schlittler’s electric rookie season also turned heads inside the organization, and with Carlos Rodon on the IL to start 2026, the Yankees could roll with him as their number two starter.
Rodon, alongside Gerrit Cole, are expected to be back in the first-half, and its fair to question how much the team should rely on them as frontline arms versus looking at them as Wild Cards for 2026.
Gerrit Cole’s stuff has declined in each of the last two seasons, but in one of those two years (2023), the right-hander was the top pitcher in the American league and won his first Cy Young Award.
His command has now become his calling card, but location tends to take a hit in a pitcher’s initial starts after an extended IL stint.
Bake in a regressing fastball and two more years of aging from his 2024 campaign, and most projections will view Gerrit Cole as more of a top ~30 starter than a frontline ace.
For Carlos Rodon, his ERA was spectacular but most underlying metrics would also view him as more of a top 30-40 starter than they would a top 10 Cy Young finisher.
This does create the question of whether New York should solidify the top half of its rotation and whether Schlittler’s emergence has changed their deadline view on certain acqusitions.
The Yankees and Marlins held trade conversations for 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, which we reported on Empire Sports Media during the final days leading up to the July trade deadline.
New York held firm on not offering Spencer Jones alongside other valued prospects for the right-hander, and Miami was stern on not trading a high-upside veteran for a discount.
Both sides could revisit a trade this offseason if Brian Cashman is still interested in adding a frontline starter, as Alcantara had a sub-3.00 ERA and FIP in his final eight starts.
Stuff+ grades his repertoire similarly to how it did from 2021-2022, and there’s reason to believe the 2025 campaign was him shaking off rust on the command side of things following TJS.
The Yankees’ willingness to add his salary for the 2025 and 2026 seasons (2027 is a club option) makes me believe that finances wouldn’t be an issue in this trade.
Furthermore, the team was comfortable pursuing the right-hander knowing Luis Gil would be out of options for 2026, which would guarantee that either Will Warren had been traded, optioned, or demoted to the bullpen.
I’m sure that their rotation depth with Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz in Triple-A and three starters slated to come back from injury throughout the season will play a role in their offseason aggression for a satrter.
That being said, I do not believe it ends the conversation of adding a starter, and Alcantara is a pitcher whom the organization has coveted for years.
At his worst, the team contemplated dealing Spencer Jones alongside other notable prospects for him, and just like they added a starter last year despite having a full rotation, they could do it again in 2026.