With lots of posturing taking place at the Winter Meetings in Orlando earlier this week, the Yankees downplayed the idea that they are in need of a starter.
“Not necessarily,” Aaron Boone said when asked. “We’ll see how the winter unfolds.”
The manager went on to say that swingman Ryan Yarbrough, re-signed earlier this offseason, gives the Yankees “protection,” while “a handful of guys” at or close to Triple-A “are kind of getting close to being factors,” if only on a “limited basis.” Boone didn’t specify who, but top-100 prospect Elmer Rodríguez is one candidate.
“I feel like right now, we’re in a pretty good spot,” Boone added, though he also said that “you kind of never have enough” and that it would be “great” to add a starter.
Brian Cashman took a similar approach to questions surrounding the Yankees’ rotation plans, saying that he would “love to add a starter” but that “it’s got to be something that provides some flexibility.” It wasn’t the first time that the general manager offered such a caveat this offseason, as the Yankees already have eight capable big league starters for a five-man rotation: Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt and Yarbrough.
“I really love our starting rotation next year,” Hal Steinbrenner, cost-conscious despite exceeding a $300 million payroll the past two seasons, said last month. “We got to get through April and get Cole back and Rodón back, but it’s going to be an incredible rotation if everybody comes back as planned.”
The problem, as Steinbrenner alluded to, is that Cole, Rodón and Schmidt will all start the season on the injured list. Cole, who could potentially return in June, and Schmidt, a second-half option, are recovering from Tommy John surgery, which tends to come with some rust, while Rodón is targeting a late-April/early-May season debut after undergoing offseason surgery to remove a bone spur.
Furthermore, Rodón, Fried, Schlittler and Warren are all coming off career-high workloads after making it through last season without any significant injuries. There’s no guarantee that happens again, and Gil is a health risk himself.
With Fried, Schlittler, Warren, Gil and Yarbrough making up the Yankees’ projected Opening Day rotation, a case could be made that the club should be looking for a frontline starter, not just depth. That would create a potential logjam if all these pitchers remained with the Yankees and were healthy at the same time, but the latter rarely happens — a reality that Cashman acknowledged — and some of the aforementioned names could help a bullpen that has some questions.
Cashman could also dangle younger arms like Warren, Gil, Rodríguez and Carlos Lagrange in trade talks for other upgrades if a top-shelf starter enters the mix.
The Yankees have been connected to several this offseason. In free agency, the team is known to have interest in Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai, though whether they will have an appetite for his price remains to be seen. Cashman also made it known that he connected with the agent for ex-Yankee Michael King, Casey Close, earlier this offseason.
On the trade front, the Yankees have been linked to Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta, Washington’s MacKenzie Gore, and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, among others.
“We are definitely interested in importing talent,” Cashman said. “I think everybody would want a No. 1 starter if you can get a No. 1 starter to add to what you already have. It’s just harder to do.”
