The Yankees' Pitching Options

NEW YORK’S NEED:

In the 2023 season, Yankees’ ace, Gerrit Cole had an incredible season and won the AL Cy Young Award. Meanwhile, the Yankees’ bullpen led Major League Baseball with a 3.34 ERA, however, the Yankees’ only ranked 10th in team ERA at 3.97. The obvious answer is that the Yankees lacked depth in their starting rotation. 

The depth issue only got worse when the Mets signed Luis Severino, the Yankees let go of Domingo German due to his struggles with alcoholism, and the Padres demanded Michael King in exchange for Juan Soto. The best option was Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto, however, the Los Angeles Dodgers outbid the Yankees. Unlike most fans, I'm very impressed with Cashman and Steinbrenner. By trading for Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto, they’ve shown commitment to aggressively improving the roster. Yet by not topping 325 million dollars in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, they’ve shown that they won’t lose sight of reality and overpay a player when the same resources can get them better value elsewhere. 

The Yankees have three options of “elsewhere”: (1) The free agent market. (2) Trading for a “rental” pitcher. A “rental” is a player nearing the end of their contract and for some reason, their current team doesn’t plan on extending the contract. Therefore they trade the player away to get some value for him while they still can. (3) Trade for a pitcher from a rebuilding team. When a team’s current roster isn’t doing the job, they will often restart by trading their few established players for young prospects with the potential of being great in a couple of years. 

THE LIST:

Here are ten starting pitchers who fall under one or more of the previously mentioned categories, how I believe they would do in the Bronx, and how realistic their acquisition is:

1. BLAKE SNELL (1):

Blake Snell is coming off a great 2023 season, in which he won his second Cy Young award. Snell is a left-handed strikeout machine. He struck out 234 batters in 2023, 12 more than the Yankees’ strikeout leader, Gerrit Cole. Snell's estimated market value is 24 million dollars a year. The reports were saying that the Yankees had offered Yamamoto over 25 million per year, so it is very realistic for them to give Snell a similar (yet slightly lower) number. 

I would be livid if the Yankees signed Blake Snell, for the following reasons. First and foremost, Snell has been terrible in the Bronx. Many players can’t handle the pressure in the world’s largest sports market and fail to meet expectations in pinstripes, such as Joey Gallo and Sonny Gray. Blake Snell has shown that he can’t handle it before he’s even played for the Yankees. His career ERA is 3.20, however, in 18 games against the Yankees, he’s posted a 4.31 ERA. At times, Snell has struggled with injuries, inconsistent ERA, and high walk rates. I guarantee that if the Yankees sign Snell, all three struggles will hit the southpaw harder than ever. 

2. JORDAN MONTGOMERY (1):

Jordan Montgomery was incredible for the Rangers in the latter half of the 2023 season. Monty upped his game even more in the postseason, posting a 2.90 ERA while pitching in 6 of the Rangers’ 13 playoff wins. Jordan Montgomery is now considered a talented southpaw, who can win big games.

Montgomery originally debuted with the Yankees back in 2017 and showed a lot of potential. Unfortunately, only a few weeks into the 2018 season, Monty hurt his elbow and required season-ending surgery. While Montgomery recovered, the Yankees couldn’t just wait around and acquired three pitchers at the trade deadline. Therefore, a year and a half later, when Montgomery was finally healthy, the Yankees didn’t have a large role to give him. After pitching a limited number of innings over the next few years, the Yankees shipped him off to the Cardinals in exchange for Harrison Bader, who would play a large role. Once he left the Yankees, Montgomery finally got a large enough role to flourish and took his game to the next level.

Now that the Yankees do need him, and they know what he’s capable of, they would love to bring him back. Jordan has stated that there are no hard feelings between him and the organization and I think he would love to go back to a familiar place. A Montgomery reunion is realistic and would be perfect for both parties.

3. MARCUS STROMAN (1):

Marcus Stroman is exactly the type of guy the Yankees lacked last season. Stroman’s fiery personality and consistency on the mound could have completely changed New York’s 2023 season. While the right-hander is coming off a down year, with a 3.95 ERA, the Yankees shouldn’t be concerned. The last two times Stroman posted an ERA above 3.90, he bounced back the following season, lowering his ERA by at least 1.25 both times. Stroman is consistent as he has pitched at least 100 every year since 2016. He also has 5 postseason starts under his belt, so playoff experience isn’t a concern. 

There might be reason to suspect that Stroman would be reluctant to sign with the “Evil Empire” since he has spoken out against them on multiple occasions. However I believe that was his fiery and competitive personality speaking, after all he has played for the Blue Jays and Mets, two rivals of the Yankees. Stroman’s estimated market value is 15.5 million dollars per year, so there’s no reason for the Yankees to not go get him. 

4. SHANE BIEBER (2):

The Cleveland Guardians are known for maintaining a low payroll by swapping out their stars for prospects right before they're due for a big payday. In 2019 it was trading Corey Kluber to the Rangers, in 2021 it was trading Francisco Lindor to the Mets, and maybe in 2023/2024 it’ll be trading Shane Bieber to the Yankees. After all, Bieber will become an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season. 

Bieber dropped off a bit in 2023 by posting a 3.80 ERA, after posting a 2.88 in 2022. The Yankees should trade for Bieber with intentions to coach him back to his 2022 form, or even his 2020 form. In 2020 Shane Bieber had a ridiculous 1.63 ERA in 77 innings in the shortened COVID season. Realistically, Cleveland will deal the right-hander and if so the Yankees should be the first to pick the phone. 

5. CORBIN BURNES (2):

With only one year left before hitting free agency, Corbin Burnes is coming off the worst season of what has been an incredible career.  In 2021, Burnes put up a 2.43 ERA while pitching 167 innings, on his way to winning the Cy Young award. Since Burnes is only 29 years old, there is no reason for him to be unable to recreate his 2021 season. The Milwaukee Brewers are another team that doesn’t like spending too much money and considering the weapon Burnes can be in big games, his market will be far too strong for them. There were rumors of the Brewers trying to shop Burnes at the past trade deadline, yet ultimately decided to keep him because they were contenders. The Brewers are still good, so they might not want to trade their ace, however, I can see a reality where they give him up for the right price.

6. PATRICK CORBIN (2) & (3):

Patrick Corbin is a name that was affiliated with the Yankees in the 2018/2019 offseason. Thankfully, the Washington Nationals outbid the Yankees for the left-handed starter. Patrick Corbin’s 6-year 140-million-dollar contract ended up being one of the worst contacts in Nationals’ history. Corbin’s ERA through the first 5 years of the deal has been 5.00, compared to his 3.91 ERA in his previous 6 seasons. The one aspect of Corbin’s game that has contributed to the Nationals is his ability to throw a large number of innings each year. As a National, Corbin had surpassed the 150-innings mark 4 times, while in 2023 only two Yankees reached 150 innings. 

Washington is coming off a 71W-91L season and most likely will take another year or two before competing, therefore they would be willing to give away Patrick Corbin for almost anything. If the Yankees fail to add at least 2 or 3 starters before spring training, Corbin would be a cheap option to consume innings. The worst scenario is Corbin only pitches on the back end of the rotation and gets left off the playoff roster, the best scenario is the Yankees help Corbin refind some of that magic from his 3.15 ERA, 200 innings, and 246 strikeouts 2018 season. 

7. DYLAN CEASE (2) & (3):

The Chicago White Sox are coming off an incredibly disappointing 61W-101L season, and don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel as they lack a  reason to expect improvement anytime soon. Dylan Cease has only two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining before he can hit free agency in the 2025-26 offseason. It would only make sense for Chicago to try to unload Cease in exchange for a prospect who can help save their franchise in a couple of years. Chicago gave up on Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez last season, so why not Dylan Cease next? 

Dylan Cease is a strikeout machine, as he’s topped 200 strikeouts in each of the past three seasons. Cease lost his touch in the second half of the 2023 season, but that’ll happen when you’re striking out batter after batter and your team is still horrible. Dylan Cease and his iconic mustache would fit right in on the Yankees, matching with Nestor Cortes, Austin Wells, and Carlos Rodon. The Yankees have the need for Cease and the resources to go get him. My only concern is that the Yanks will put him in pinstripes before I finish this article. 

8. MIKE CLEVINGER (2) & (3):

Mike Clevinger is another White Sox pitcher, who they would trade for the same reasons as Cease. Clevinger only has one year left on his contract, so he’s less valuable than Cease. However, Clevinger has a massive upside. Clevinger was once one of the top up-and-coming pitchers in the AL, as he posted a 3.20 ERA and 42W-22L record in five seasons with the Cleveland Guardians before being traded to the San Diego Padres. The Padres have built themselves a reputation for ruining top talent, and that’s exactly what happened with Clevinger, as he posted a career-worst 4.33 ERA in 2022. In his first season out of San Diego, Clevinger took the first step towards getting back on track by lowering his ERA to 3.77. I would love to see the Yankees take a shot on Clevinger and see if he’s still got it. 

9. PATRICK SANDOVAL (3):

The Los Angeles Angels can hold Patrick Sandoval in arbitration for the next 3 years, yet I don’t think it would pay off for them. The Angels are coming off a 73W-89L season, and because a man named Shohei Ohtani recently left the building, I doubt they’ll be better next year. Check out my article discussing the Angels’ self distructing. The best thing they can do, is trade away their remaining valuable pieces to get as many prospects with high potential, the team they have now simply cannot get the job done. 

Sandoval has been pretty good and consistent over the past two years, with an ERA of 3.49 over 293 innings. If the Angels have any common sense, they’ll trade Sandoval to the desperate Yankees in exchange for some prospects. However they clearly rather sell jerseys than win games, so I doubt it’ll happen. 

10. COLE RAGANS (3):

The Kansas City Royals’ rotation was a laughing stock in 2023. They finished with the third-worst ERA in baseball, at 5.17, and the second-worst record in baseball at 56W-106L. Kansas City does have a couple of decent young bats in their lineup, Bobby Witt, Maikel Garcia, and MJ Melendez. All three of those bats are 25 or younger, therefore the Royals can let themselves take a year or two to rebuild their pitching rotation. Out of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects, 5 are starting pitchers who will be ready in a year or two. Since Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, and Alex Verdugo are all entering a contract year, the Yankees cannot wait a year or two, but the Royals can. The two teams should make a trade beneficial for both sides. Cole Ragans is a good option because he posted an impressive 3.47 ERA over 96 innings in 2023, yet isn’t a key part of the Royals' plans going forward like Brady Singer.

THE YANKEES’ 2024 SEASON:

New York’s goal should be to add two or three of the pitchers I listed, realistically they’ll only add one or two. In my opinion, if they add two of the top pitchers on the list, they’ll be primed to have a bounce-back 2024 season. Cashman and Steinbrenner have already fixed the team’s two biggest issues, which were a lack of left-handed bats and a low OBP.  They did so by trading for Soto and Verdugo who are both lefties with career OBPs of 421 and 337, compared to the Yankees’ 2023 team OBP of 304. If they fix the final issue of lack of depth in the rotation, this team should win the AL East.