Yankees Have Serious Pressure to Add Pitching Help

Why Yankees Need Rotation Help

New York's starters owned the fourth-best ERA of any group in the league during the 2025 season at 3.61. Declaring that its rotation is an area of need seems a bit shortsighted as a result, but the context is necessary in this case.

Carlos Rodón, who logged a 3.09 ERA and earned an All-Star nod this past season, is set to miss the beginning of the 2026 campaign after undergoing elbow surgery to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur in October.

Ace Gerrit Cole is also trending towards remaining on the injured list to open next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March and subsequently missing all of 2025 for the Yankees.

Additionally, Clarke Schmidt will miss most, if not all, of the 2026 season due to Tommy John surgery, which he received in July. He had posted a 3.32 ERA in 14 outings and 78 2/3 innings before going down with his injury.

Though a unit of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Luis Gil and Yarbrough or perhaps someone like Allen Winans isn't an awful unit on paper, there's still plenty of question marks.

New York does have a number of pitching prospects knocking on the door of the majors, such as Elmer Rodríguez, but it's already entering the year hoping that a pair of inexperienced arms in Schlittler and Warren can shoulder the load behind Fried, who finished fourth in AL Cy Young Voting this year.

It's also far from a guarantee that Rodón and Cole are going to be themselves when they do return, making it all the more imperative that the Yankees find another high-end starter this offseason.

Who Could the Yankees Target?

Though Cease is now off the open market, there's still a number of enticing options available to the Yankees.

A reunion with Michael King could be on the table after the club sent him to the San Diego Padres in December 2023 as part of the Juan Soto and Trent Grisham trade, and maybe Tatsuya Imai will emerge as a possibility after seemingly turning down the Los Angeles Dodgers as a possible destination.

Landing back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers as he enters his final year of club control feels like a pipe dream at the moment, but the Yankees would fall among the top fits for him should he be made available.

It's not as though New York has a ton of openings in its rotation, but it desperately needs to find someone who can step in and throw some high-level innings next season.

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