Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

By Mike Whiteman November 3, 2025 With the World Series now over and the calendar changing to November, we're officially in the offseason and the Hot Stove League! Some have gathered by the stove early this year with the Yankees' premature elimination from the playoffs and I've greatly enjoyed reading the prescriptions by fans and bloggers about how to fix the Yankees for 2026. I've also been thinking about the 2026 Yankees. My plan is much simpler than most. I don't think the team needs an overhaul. I think they need one major upgrade for 2026. Starting pitching.

Sure, position players are important. Crucial. That being said, if the Yankees start the 2026 season with the position player roster resembling the late year 2025 group, that should be just fine. They should score plenty of runs, play pretty good defense, and be athletic enough to win games on days the power hitters are silent. I know that the Yankee pitching cupboard is not bare at all and even if they do nothing, they are better off than most teams. I still believe upgrading starting pitching is the key to 2026. Why? Well, lets take a a look back at the 2025 season. The Yankee season looks to break into three parts. The dates are my opinions of the change is events, nothing more: Part I (March 27-June 12) = The Good Start - 42-25, 3.63 ERA, 5.5 runs scored per game, 3.9 runs allowed per game. Part II (June 13-August 23) = The "Swoon" - 27-35, 4.42 ERA, 4.7 runs scored per game, 4.9 runs allowed per game. Part III (August 24-September 28) = The Recovery - 25-8, 3.42 ERA, 5.8 runs scored per game, 3.7 runs allowed per game. During the Swoon, the numbers that jump out to me are the 4.9 runs allowed per game and 4.42 ERA. The offense wasn't at its best, but note that 4.7 runs scored per game was still better than the average American League team in 2025 (4.4) and would be fifth in the AL over the course of the season. During the Swoon, the starters came down to earth, with Fried (4.84) really struggling, The bullpen just imploded and went into full crisis, taking the loss in eighteen games. So, I believe little better pitching during this time gives the team a few more wins, and likely the American East championship. My first impression when looking at this was "OK, just upgrade the bullpen". Unfortunately, we all know from history that's not an easy and reliable fix. Exhibit One is Devin Williams - two-time All Star reliever and twice the Trevor Hoffman National League reliever of the year who came into the season with a 1.83 career ERA. When looking at the 2025 season during Spring Training, most of us prognosticators didn't see closer to be a problem. Except it was. Williams had a 4.79 ERA and negative WAR. Luke Weaver was Plan B, fresh off his fine 2024 season and great postseason. He was also inconsistent with a 3.62 ERA and struggles preventing the longball. It took the late-season trade for David Bednar to stabilize the role. It's hard to truly count on relief pitching when planning out a season. The volatile nature of the job means performance can fluctuate wildly from year to year. Bednar himself was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, had a 5.77 ERA in 2024, demoted to AAA at the beginning of 2025, and was the Yankees' closer after joining the team July 31. We know in today's game bullpens are often remade on the fly during the course of the year, and September's relief corps often looks much different from April's due to injury, poor performance, and trade deadline additions. So, what is really the best, most reliable way to upgrade the bullpen? Don't rely on them so much. My recommendation to improve the 2026 Yankees is simple, and as old as the game itself. Go big on starting pitching. Among the available free agent pitchers are: Dylan Cease Framber Valdez Ranger Suarez Michael King (mutual option with Padres) If you ask me, I like Cease. He has a history of durability and though he struggled at times last year (4.55 ERA), his 3.56 FIP indicates he was a bit unlucky. He's been a top-five finisher in Cy Young voting twice in the past four seasons. I'd sign him as soon as able.

There are rumors of the availability of Detroit Tiger ace and reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. If I'm the Yankees I'm all in there as well. Now the Tigers are a team wanting to win now so the price for Skubal will be high and Yankees likely aren't going to get him for prospects alone. If a deal can't be done here, there is chatter that all-stars Freddy Peralta (Brewers), MacKenzie Gore (Nationals), Hunter Greene (Reds), Joe Ryan (Twins) and Sandy Alcantara (Marlins) could be available at the right price. I've got to think a package of Will Warren and some other young players can get one of them. So, here's my Opening Day Rotation: 1 - Fried 2 - Cease 3- Trade acquisition 4- Cam Schlittler 5 - Luis Gil/Minor league promotee Right there, that looks to be among the better units around. In the wings are Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Gerrit Cole. Injury returns are rarely a straight line process, and the strength of the early rotation should give these guys the time to work through recovery without the need to be rushed back. The totality and depth of this group should ensure a big piece of consistency to navigate through the inevitable offensive and bullpen ups and downs, and avoid the Swoon. Now, there is a down side to this strategy - too many good and healthy pitchers. I'll take that problem. Also, I'm not saying to ignore the rest of the roster. The bullpen should be upgraded, the Yanks need to address shortstop in light of Anthony Volpe's injury and projected early 2026 absence. I sure hope the Yanks re-sign Cody Bellinger. I'd love to see Kyle Tucker in Pinstripes. We all know that the Yanks can afford to do all of it. We all know they likely will not do it all. But if had a say, my foundation of the 2026 Yankees would be to build, by far, the best rotation in the game. If they lean in on this, I think next year at this time we all might be a bit happier.