As the season continues for the New York Yankees, it seems that the Yankees’ one weakness is about to get worse. The starting rotation has been anything but good, especially since Gerrit Cole is gone for the foreseeable future. Other starters, such as Nestor Cortes, are gone, leaving a massive hole that needs to be filled soon.
Yankees Rotation In Need of Answers
Carlos Carrasco Likely to Be DFA’d
Unfortunately for the Yankees, having Carlos Carrasco isn’t sustainable for the rotation. Carrasco hasn’t had a good season since 2022, while he hasn’t had an ace-like season since 2020. Carrasco began to regress in 2023 when in 20 games pitched, he had an abysmal 6.20 ERA. For some strange reason, the Cleveland Guardians attempted to fix him in 2024, only for Carrasco to pitch to a 5.64 ERA. Again, for some strange reason, the Yankees decided to take a chance and sign him to a minor league deal.
The result? A 5.91 ERA and a few losses for the Yankees. The Yankees have been suffering lately from their rotation, and Carrasco is no exception. Carrasco has not been an ace since his dominant 2017-18 seasons. At age 38, it is very clear that Carrasco’s effectiveness has waned and the Yankees are only hurting themselves by keeping Carrasco in their rotation. DFA’ing Carrasco seems like the smartest thing to do.
The Yankees In Need of Help Soon
The problem for the Yankees is that Carrasco isn’t the only bad-performing starter so far. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon have done well. However, Will Warren is also pitching terribly, as he too has an ERA above five. Warren himself is already the Yankees having to pivot to a minor league starter. If Carrasco is DFA’d, what pitcher can effectively replace him? Luke Weaver, who is a previous starter himself, is now a closer, while there remain to be no other bullpen pieces that can fill the void.
The simple result is that the Yankees need another starter and soon. Whether that be from a trade or a free agent, the Yankee’s rotation has been hit hard. What’s even harsher? Trades such as the Devin Williams trade probably weren’t the smartest. Cortes remains injured, but at the same time, perhaps his fortunes would have changed had he stayed in New York.
A trade this early in the season for an ace is unlikely. However, perhaps a simple trade for a simple starter who can get the job done and not have a 6.00 ERA would probably benefit the Yanks.
Yankees “A+” Offseason Is Looking Different Now
At the moment, the Yankees offense is absolutely popping off. The Yanks have the highest average and the highest amount of homers. However, one extreme for another extreme isn’t a good thing. The Seattle Mariners learned this the hard way last season as they attempted to supplement a horrible offense for a good rotation. Although the Yankees era is the ninth best, the Yankees’ holes are still very important, and the ERA doesn’t represent the true reality, two bad pitchers with two excellent pitchers in the rotation won’t make for a good rotation.
The offseason acquisitions and failures are also starting to hurt New York. Clay Holmes, who was a failed closer for the Yanks last season, is pitching as a starter to a 2.95 ERA for the New York Mets. Such a starter would change the rotation in an instant for the Yankees who allowed Holmes to walk. As for the other trades that the Yankees got, Cody Bellinger has been pretty bad while Williams is making himself look like a clown with an 10.03 ERA. The one good thing: Fried has been amazing.
Main Image: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
