After the worst possible news on Gerrit Cole, the Yankees did not do much on Tuesday to reassure their fans that 2025 wasn’t already a lost cause.
Clarke Schmidt, expected to be one of the key arms stepping up in Cole's absence, looked rusty in his first spring outing. The right-hander allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk in just 1 2/3 innings, hardly the performance the Yankees wanted to see from someone who may now be relied upon as a key starter.
At least he came through healthy.
The Yankees' general manager, Brian Cashman, did not exactly instill confidence in a significant external move to shore up the rotation.
"We'll evaluate what we have here," Cashman told reporters. "Warren's pitched extremely well so far. Carrasco's pitched extremely well so far."
While the Yankees will explore outside options, Cashman admitted that "very little is available" on the pitching market this time of year and added that luxury tax penalties will make a major upgrade "less likely.”
The Yankees are already well over the highest luxury tax threshold of $301 million, with Cot's Contracts projecting their 2025 payroll at $304.7 million. Owner Hal Steinbrenner recently stated that the figure could be even higher, in the $307-$308 million range. With tax penalties in place, any external move would come at a steep financial cost, making it less likely that the team will pursue a high-profile replacement for Cole.
The Yankees find themselves in a tough spot.
Their hopes of getting back to a World Series and avenging their embarrassing loss there last season have been taking hits all spring. Luis Gil is out for at least three months with a lat strain. Giancarlo Stanton has not swung a bat since January because of sore elbows. He's taking a third round of platelet-rich plasma treatments to try and avoid season-ending surgery.
Cole having Tommy John on Tues seemed like the nail in the coffin.
While Cashman remains hopeful that internal options like Schmidt, Warren, or Carrasco can step into big roles, Tuesday wasn't a very convincing day.
