The New York Yankees are expected to lose starter Frankie Montas for about a month of the regular season once it begins. That leaves them with four of their projected five starters, not an enviable situation.
This forces them to turn to their depth, but it hurts the overall quality of the rotation. Any further injuries and it becomes precarious as Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt will both be regulars.
Yankees podcasters Jomboy and Talkin' Jake noted this.
The two discussed the situation:
"Frankie Montas will be around and if he gets healthy... If not, Domingo German survives and flourishes again and may be our fifth starter... Yeah, I don't like that at all. You need seven starters to start a season. That is what the Yankees say. You have 4.5 right now, so you need more starters.
"I think they would say they have six between Domingo and Clarke Schmidt... They would say that. I disagree. I'd like for them to go get someone like go knock on the Marlins' door and see what they want."
"I don't need like a stud stud, because you can find one at the deadline, but another guy's going to go down. And then if you have German and Clarke both in the rotation, you're not where you want to be at all. So you need to go get a starter."
Spring training hasn't even arrived yet and the Yankees already need to consider making a move.
Available starting pitchers the New York Yankees can add
Despite free agency being almost over, there are options for the New York Yankees. They might not want to make this move for the optics, but Trevor Bauer is available.
The following are as well:
- Zack Greinke
- Mike Minor
- Michael Wacha
- Dylan Bundy
- Chad Kuhl
They may also look at swinging a trade. The Marlins, as the podcasters mentioned, have Pablo Lopez and other starters that wouldn't cost as much as Sandy Alcantara.
The Kansas City Royals might trade Ryan Yarborough or Jordan Lyles. Josiah Gray from the Washington Nationals makes sense, too.