Mar 27, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees injured starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) fist bumps teammates during introductions before an opening day game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Yankees Urged to Be Aggressive on One Area

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Erin Shapland | Last updated Dec 29, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The New York Yankees have three starters out at the moment, and while they can reasonably expect two of them to return by the summer, they can't reasonably expect everything to go perfectly. Spring training is likely to yield an injury to someone, and they have failed to secure another starter (so far) to keep the rotation from spiraling.

The Athletic's Chris Kirschner recently urged the Yankees to be aggressive this offseason under the circumstances, something the team has not done on the pitching front -- or at all -- so far. The Yankees need another outfielder, yes, but the weak bullpen is still weak, and their current rotation isn't likely to cut it. It seems the Yankees are counting on too much going right in a sport where pitching can go very wrong.

"[Gerrit] Cole has one of the most brilliant minds in baseball, so it would be foolish to think he won’t figure out how to be successful in a post-surgery baseball life, but the Yankees should not be banking on him returning to a Cy Young Award level," Kirschner pointed out.

Dave Nelson-Imagn Images

"The bullpen has concerns of its own, and the Yankees have already sat out the top and middle of the reliever market."

Kirschner also named some realistic trade targets for the Yankees if they choose to land a starter in trade, including Milwaukee Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, Washington Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore and Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcántara, but points out that they would all likely come at a high price to the Yankees' farm system.

What About Tatsuya Imai?

The deadline to sign free agent starter Tatsuya Imai is just four days away, and the Yankees have shown no sign of landing him outside of offseason speculation. MLB insider Jack Curry suggested that there is "no connection" between Imai and the Yankees, Aaron Boone told the press that the Yankees have not met with him and he is unsure that they will, and Imai himself gave a somewhat pessimistic outlook on his MLB future in a recent interview.

“Apparently, there actually aren’t many concrete options on the table yet,” Imai said, per The New York Post. “And it seems that having teams show interest and receiving a formal offer are completely different things.”

Fans will have an answer on the Imai question by Jan. 2, the deadline to sign him from the posting system. Beyond that, they do not seem to have any free agent starters in mind, but may choose to land one in trade.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!