MLB sportscaster spotlights Yankees' major weakness despite $218,000,000 Max Fried in rotation

MLB analyst Anthony Recker believes the injuries to starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil have severely hampered expectations for the New York Yankees this season.

Recker feels their starting rotation may not be strong enough to challenge for a playoff spot despite the team signing Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract during the offseason.

The Yankees will have to navigate the entire 2025 season without their ace Gerrit Cole after he underwent Tommy John surgery last week. A week earlier, Luis Gil had been sidelined for three months due to a high-grade lat strain in his right shoulder.

Therefore, Carlos Rodon and new signing Max Fried will have to lead the pitching staff this year. Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman have also moved up the order as a result, with the aging Carlos Carrasco and the rookie Will Warren filling up the back end of the rotation.

Recker shared his thoughts on the Yankees' active roster for the 2025 season on MLB Network.

"My concern is pretty high," Recker said. This team was built around a starting rotation. That's what I saw coming into the season. I know they're still not a bad offensive team. They're a good offensive team. I know they have some arms in the bullpen that we saw come through in the playoffs, and they made a couple of acquisitions in the offseason.

"I still love Max Fried at the top, but you don't know what you're going to get from Carlos Rodon. You don't know when Clarke Schmidt is truly going to be healthy, and if your five is a mix of Carlos Carrasco, or Will Warren, and others," he added. "I start to question where they're going to go as the season progresses, and there are more injuries that pile up."

Gerrit Cole has been one of the best starting pitchers in the MLB over the past decade and the ace of the Yankees pitching staff since 2020, while Luis Gil is the reigning American League Rookie of the Year.

That ceiling has definitely come down: Anthony Recker on Yankees' prospects for 2025

Gerrit Cole will play no part for the Yankees this year (Image Source: IMAGN)

In 2024, the New York Yankees claimed the American League pennant and reached the World Series after a 15-year drought. Anthony Recker said it will be extremely difficult for them to get to the Fall Classic again this year due to key injuries across their roster.

"Coming into spring, it was really World Series or bust again. I thought this team had everything," he said. "And now that ceiling has definitely come down. I'm just not sure they have what it takes to get to where they thought they were going to get to."

The defending AL champions will also have to deal without Giancarlo Stanton for the foreseeable future. The five-time All-Star is undergoing treatment for severe pain in both his elbows and has not been able to swing a bat for weeks.