Ex-Mets GM sounds alarm on Yankees’ pitching woes with Gerrit Cole out injured

The New York Yankees lost righty ace Gerrit Cole for the year to Tommy John surgery, the club announced Tuesday. They will also be without Luis Gil for roughly three months. Their strong starting rotation has been thinned out in a matter of weeks.

The free agent market is all but closed ahead of the season, and there aren't a ton of great pitchers available in trades, either. That's what former MLB general manager Steve Phillips believes, and he thinks it might be trouble for the Yankees.

Speaking on MLB Network Radio on Wednesday, Phillips said:

"The Yankees search for starting pitching, realizing that there's not much available. It is slim pickings right now. You've got Kyle Gibson out there... Lance Lynn out there, a former Yankee still available. The trade market is a bit light."

The former New York Mets GM went on:

"At this point, inventory would be a good thing just because they have some depth of numbers could help the Yankees. If they can score runs and they have depth in the bullpen, if they can just get someone to keep them in the game, they've got a chance to try and win it."

The Yankees lost Cole at an inopportune time. He went down after virtually all starting pitchers had signed and the trade market cooled off, so the option to replace him is now a lot harder.

Last year, the Yankees replaced Cole internally with Gil, who went on to have a Rookie of the Year season. However, the team currently doesn't have someone at that same level waiting in the wings in a similar fashion, and Gil is out, too.

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What does the Yankees rotation look like sans Gerrit Cole?

The Yankees had Gerrit Cole atop their rotation with Max Fried and others behind him. Now, both Cole and Gil are out, and Gil won't be back until at least the summer. Here's where they stand now:

1. Max Fried
2. Carlos Rodon
3. Clarke Schmidt
4. Marcus Stroman
5. Will Warren

Will Warren might replace Gerrit Cole (Imagn)

Will Warren made a few spot starts last year out of the minors, but he didn't have much success. He yielded 26 earned runs in 22.2 innings and had -1.2 bWAR. However, his spring stats (3-0, 1.54 ERA, 12 strikeouts) are much more encouraging.