The Tuesday Discussion: Now What?

March 11, 2025

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This week we asked our writers the following:

Will the Yankees acquire a starting pitcher before the season starts?  If so, who will it be?

Here are their responses:

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Tim Kabel - I think the Yankees will acquire a pitcher but, I don’t know if it will be before the season starts. I believe they will bring Jordan Montgomery back to the team from Arizona.

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Mike Whiteman - I'm going to go optimistic on this one, and predict that the Yankees surprise us all and acquire Sandy Alcantara from the Marlins at the end of Spring Training. 

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Paul Semendinger - The Yankees might make a move. If they do, it won't be for anything exciting. Brian Cashman might find a player that if one squints, and hopes, there will be potential (was once a high draft pick, once struck out a bunch of guys at AA, or something like that) that will make some say, "He just might be good." Fear not, he won't be.

The Yankees don't have the talent in the prospect pool to get a top starter now or at the deadline. The few players they have are all keepers right now, or they see them as keepers. The best they'll be able to do is find a pitcher who someone once had high hopes for.

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Ethan Semendinger - At this point, the Yankees will have to go into the season with a rotation headlined by Max Fried, followed by Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt (provided he is truly healthy), Marcus Stroman, and Will Warren. Maybe Carlos Carrasco could- or should- be an option.

Regardless of how that all plays out, it is clear the strength of the rotation, in just a few weeks, has been decimated with the losses of Gerrit Cole (TJS) and Luis Gil (lat strain). And, I don't think many teams are too interested in trading starting pitchers right now. So, is there anybody available in free agency to consider?

As of the time of my research, the available names are: Patrick Corbin, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, James Paxton, Spencer Turnbull, Jose Urena, Danny Duffy, Johnny Cueto, and Rich Hill. Nobody in that list is all that exciting to me, and they would each need a month (or more) before they'd be ready to go. I wouldn't be banking on any of them to provide the relief the Yankees need (though, I'm always okay with bringing in any of them as a depth piece for Triple-A...if they'd even want to go that route).

At this point, just stick with what's within the system.

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Lincoln Mitchell - No.

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Derek McAdam - I can’t see the Yankees acquiring anyone else. This may be Will Warren’s chance to be the No. 5 starter.

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Cary Greene - Anyone remember when I wrote last November that I felt Max Fried should be the Yankees top free agent priority this coming offseason? Now imagine for a moment, what the Yankees 2025 season would look like if they had spent all available money on Juan Soto, at the expense of signing Fried, trading for Bellinger and Williams and signing Goldy. Mike King put up a 4.2 b-WAR last year and was the seventh best pitcher in the National League and so here we are. The Yankees, myself, many of you -- we'd like to reacquire Mr. King from the Padres. 

Trouble is, he costs about $30 MTV (per Baseball Trade Values) and the Padres are counting on him to be their ace this season, along with Dylan Cease who's likewise worth $33.5 MTV (again, per BTV). With the plan being to contend for the World Series this season, San Diego probably isn't all that motivated to trade either one of them and we all know that the Padres GM (AJ Preller) loves to extract as much value as he can when he makes trades.

Coincidentally, King will be a free agent after the conclusion of the 2025 season and naturally, Brian Cashman loves to make deals for players on expiring contracts. 

With King about to get his first and likely best taste of free agency at the conclusion of the coming season, would the Yankees be willing to trade Jasson Dominguez, who's worth $39 MTV, straight up for Mike King? Personally, if I was Brian Cashman I would make an offer for King, but I'd first find out what Preller would like in return. Does Preller want MLB ready starting pitching - ala Will Warren ($10.8 MTV) and perhaps a tranche of other prospects such as Spencer Jones ($10.2 MTV) and George Lombard ($16.1 MTV) to entice him to move King back to the Bronx? 

Should a Dominguez for King proposal gain legs, the Yankees could easily shift Trent Grisham to center field and move Cody Bellinger to left field, so they'd be A-OK without Dominguez. However, I doubt Preller would want Dominguez, but if he did, I'd certainly love to see Brian Cashman make what BTV would say is a fairly significant overpay for one season of Mike King. Would I part with the more likely Warren/Jones/Lombard overpay? I would not. 

So let's assume King doesn't match up with the Yankees and their fairly well depleted farm system. Diving into the free agency dumpster might net Lance Lynn for one year on what Sports Illustrated's Patrick McAvoy projects as being worth $12 million. Is that preferable than having to overpay for Lance Lynn? I think not. 

Therefore, my conclusion is: stand pat if Preller doesn't want Dominguez (which he very clearly won't, because he needs pitching and who doesn't these days I might add?).

Personally, I like the notion of giving Carlos Carassco a chance to be a part of the rotation in the early going - while trying to stretch out Yoendrys Gomez during the first few months of the season. Meanwhile, I'd also bring Jonathan Loaisiga as a starter and I'd limit his workload, with the goal of using him in the postseason as a #2 behind Fried. 

A lot could go wrong with my plan, but that's why they have the Trade Deadline. In the meantime, it's well past time to be locked and loaded and the Yankees roster is looking very silly right now considering how much payroll is tied up in it. 

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Andy Singer - I said it multiple times after Gerrit Cole came back last year: I thought he was pitching hurt. His arm slot was drastically different when he returned, and it took multiple innings in almost every outing for his arm slot to return to something approaching normal. I'm sure the Yankees knew that Cole's elbow was a ticking time bomb, hence the reason they prioritized signing Fried this offseason.

This isn't a fun start to the season, but the Yankee rotation is deeper than many are giving it credit for. Will Warren is significantly sharper this year than last, and that rough experience last year should help give him a leg up on the learning curve this season. Marcus Stroman is more than fine as a 4/5, and there is more depth right now than there was 2 months ago, with Carlos Carrasco, Brent Headrick, and Allan Winans hanging around. Carrasco knows how to get big league hitters out (and has displayed a small bump in stuff this offseason), Headrick has gained almost 2 ticks of velocity in his Spring appearances, and multiple teams wanted Winans, so there must be something there. Later in the season, I also wouldn't be shocked if Cam Schlittler and Ben Hess are real options at the big league level.

Is it sexy depth? Not exactly. Is it enough to get to the trade deadline? Probably. I don't think the Yankees need to make a deal for starting pitching by the time Spring Training comes to a close, but I also am not sure they have to right now. Wait until the prices drop in the middle of the year, because there's enough to win for a couple of months.