Yankees' potential options to add to the rotation after injuries to Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson against the Yankees last August. Credit: Ed Murray
Marcus Stroman was right: He’s not a reliever.
He’s the Yankees’ No. 4 starter.
After the injuries to Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery, out for the season) and Luis Gil (lat strain, out for the first half of the season), the Yankees are suddenly short in quality starting pitchers.
Will Warren is the first man up for the No. 5 spot, with former Met Carlos Carrasco having a solid camp as a non-roster invite. But if the Yankees want to dip outside the organization, here are some starters on the free agent and trade markets:
Free agents
Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Spencer Turnbull
All righthanders, all underwhelming, but all still available.
Gibson, 37, went 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA for St. Louis last season, when he made $12 million. He is durable, having made at least 30 starts each of the last three seasons.
Lynn, 37, was briefly a Yankee in 2018. He also was with St. Louis in 2024, going 7-4, 3.83 in 24 starts and making $10 million.
Turnbull, 32, went 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 games (seven starts) with Philadelphia last season and was paid $2 million. A former top prospect, Turnbull lost 17 games in 2019 but did throw a no-hitter in 2021.
Trade market
Here’s where it could get interesting. The Yankees should recoup a large portion of Cole’s $36 million salary through insurance. So their play could be to make a trade with a team that is looking to shed payroll.
For example, the Yankees could see if Arizona wants to unload former Yankees lefthander Jordan Montgomery, who signed late in 2024 and suffered through a dreadful season.
Or they could try to entice San Diego to part with pending free agents Dylan Cease or former Yankee Michael King by taking on a big contract.
The Mariners have a lot of starters and always need offense, so Luis Castillo is a trade possibility as well. As is Sandy Alcantara, who could fetch a decent haul of talent back for the Marlins, and Erick Fedde of the Cardinals, who are in a reset phase.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
