The New York Yankees could be in some trouble when the 2026 season rolls around.
After the Chicago Cubs acquired 27-year-old Miami Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera in a trade for top outfield prospect Owen Caissie, infielder Christian Hernandez and third baseman Edgardo De Leon, another rotation option was promptly taken off the market. And while the Yankees’ name was thrown around in those conversations, per Jon Heyman, they were “not close” to a deal with Miami.
This instance of the Yankees losing out on a trade target or free agent is one of the many across the current offseason. Tatsuya Imai, Cabrera, Dylan Cease, and Michael King are all names that have come off the market, and, most importantly, they haven’t had their name in the ring when it comes to pitchers like the Houston Astros’ Framber Valdez, Philadelphia Phillies’ Ranger Suárez, or Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen.
With all of those names gone and not many options left available, there’s a question as to what the Yankees could do with the time that is left.
If there was to be a move for the starting rotation for general manager Brian Cashman, it would likely circle around Milwaukee Brewers Freddy Peralta. Peralta finished last season with an NL-high 17 wins and a 5.5 bWAR, and, along with Jacob Misiorowski, propelled the Brewers and its pitching staff to another strong season that saw them in the postseason.
For the Yankees, that appears to be the only option in which they could get a real top-end starting arm. Other than that, their rotation looks rather depleted for the start of 2026. With Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt all out for an extended period of time due to a variety of injuries, there will be an over reliance on Max Fried to get the job done. And, of course, Fried did a phenomenal job at the helm of the rotation’s ship last season, but he did also have the help of Rodón behind him. And while a name like Luis Gil could come in handy, he’s not exactly known for being an iron man himself, having gone down with multiple injuries over the last couple of seasons.
So, while the offseason moves forward and more names come off the board, the question then becomes, what is Cashman’s next move? And does he trust his other arms enough to take over while the three big names heal from injury, all while hoping they don’t get injured themselves?
For fans, it’s obvious that they wouldn’t like to rely on hope for pitchers to not get hurt moving into another critical year of the Judge era. Not making any moves could result in another situation where someone like Carlos Carrasco is in your Opening Day rotation, and that’s not ideal for a team with hopes of winning a championship. It’s unlikely that someone like Ryan Yarborough, while he could be a decent bullpen option, will be enough at the backend of the rotation to keep the Yankees afloat, especially if they’re not able to re-sign some of their hitters from last season like Cody Bellinger.
As of now, the Yankees opening rotation looks composed of Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Yarborough, and a fifth player who could be anyone from Triple-A like Elmer Rodríguez, who posted excellent numbers last season. However, that is still a rotation strongly lacking in impact arms, with the drop off from a Cole or Rodón being major.
The closer we get to the beginning of the 2026 season, the worse the options get for Cashman and his staff. So, it’s no surprise Yankees fans are calling for at least one move to be made to shore up the starting arms.