It’s been a tough spring for the Yankees on the injury front. The club has faced a number of noteworthy injuries, with the latest blow being the loss of veteran ace Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss the entire 2025 season, while rotation-mate Luis Gil is set to miss a couple of months after suffering a lat strain. The lineup has been impacted as well, with slugger Giancarlo Stanton poised to miss significant time due to elbow issues while likely starting third baseman DJ LeMahieu has been sidelined by a calf strain.
Each of those injuries have prompted varying levels of speculations that the club could look to bring in some help, but the Yankees are seemingly facing fairly strict budget limits. RosterResource projects them for a $285MM payroll. The Yanks have shown little interest in adding payroll, and their projected $305MM competitive balance tax number is already above the $301MM top tax threshold. It would be fairly difficult to make lineup and rotation additions with limited budget space and a limited supply available to them. General manager Brian Cashman downplayed the possibility of the Yankees making a notable addition, citing the current tax situation as an obstacle.
Perhaps the most obvious choice for an upgrade would be the starting rotation. The Yankees are already down at least one starter for the entire 2025 season, and while Marcus Stroman can step into the rotation as a #5 starter relatively seamlessly, the depth beyond him gets shakier. Non-roster invitee Carlos Carrasco has an ugly 6.18 ERA over his past two seasons, while prospect Will Warren struggled to a 10.32 ERA in his big league debut last year with an ERA near 6.00 at Triple-A. A steadier depth arm like Lance Lynn or Kyle Gibson would make plenty of sense for a rotation that has multiple pitchers with notable injury histories.
The Yankees do have plenty of high-end talent in the rotation that could help to make up for the lack of depth. Max Fried is a legitimate No. 1 starter in his own right. Carlos Rodon is just two seasons removed from earning Cy Young votes. Clarke Schmidt posted a sterling 2.85 ERA in 16 starts last year. With the reigning AL Rookie of the Year set to join the rotation at some point this year, perhaps the Yankees’ needs are more acute in the lineup.
The idea of filling Stanton’s spot in the lineup is made more intriguing by the presence of a comparable veteran lingering in free agenct. J.D. Martinez remains on the market, and the two sluggers have produced nearly identical offensive value over the past five years: Stanton has slashed .231/.313/.473 with a 117 wRC+, while Martinez has hit .263/.330/.477 with a wRC+ of 118. Even with Martinez coming off a relative down season and a particularly tough second half with the Mets last year, it’s easy to see why having Martinez fill in for Stanton could be very appealing. The Yankees have had at least “some contact” with Martinez since Stanton was sidelined.
Then again, it’s fair to argue that Stanton is the easiest of the injured Yankees to replace in-house. Ben Rice has impressed during Spring Training and was already in the conversation for the backup catcher job. He could be tabbed as a potential DH option against right-handed hitters. Another solution would be giving regulars more rest by playing them at DH on occasion. If the club places Trent Grisham in center field for a day rather than Cody Bellinger, Stanton’s injury could let them give Bellinger a partial rest day at DH or have him back up any of Jasson Dominguez, Aaron Judge, or even Paul Goldschmidt so they could get a rest day of their own.
Third base has also been a question throughout camp. LeMahieu seems like he’ll have a shorter absence than Stanton, but even coming off a down season, his injury thins out the infield options. A mix of LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, and Oswaldo Cabrera always looked fairly uninspiring. An MLBTR poll late last month suggested that a plurality of respondents believed the club’s primary third baseman would be someone not yet in the organization.
The third base market — and second base market, if Jazz Chisholm Jr. plays third instead — has largely been picked over, however. The Yankees were connected to infield options like Jose Iglesias and Jorge Polanco at points throughout the offseason and into Spring Training, but both veterans have since landed elsewhere. Nolan Arenado is known to be willing to waive his no-trade clause to join the Yankees, but it’s unlikely New York would be willing to take on his contract. Veteran Whit Merrifield remains available in free agency but isn’t a clear upgrade coming off a downturn in production at the plate. Perhaps upcoming opt-out opportunities for non-roster veterans and players made available on waivers due to roster crunches when Opening Day draws near will present a more viable solution.
How do MLBTR readers think the Yankees should address their injury-created holes? Will the club sign/acquire a starter to deepen its oft-injured rotation mix? Or could the Yankees instead turn to the lineup and either replace Stanton at DH or look for an upgrade to the infield? Have your say in the poll below:
Play it out and re-assess in a two months.
People forget that the 2019 Yankees won 103 games (and the division) with injuries galore. Guys like Maybin, Ford and Tauchman really stepped up that year.
This is an honest question from a rays fan to Yankees fans and I’m not even trying to be rude. How can a roster that cost $300m be built so badly? How is there 0 depth and so many holes andddd have a bottom 5 farm system?
Brian Cashman isn’t very good at his job. Every mistake can just be covered up by money.
No rudeness taken. For starters, they’re paying this year Stanton, Cole, DJL, and Aaron Hicks (who has been gone for years) a combined $93M. They’ve traded a lot of their upper-level farm depth in the past two seasons to acquire Soto, Bellinger, and Devin Williams. They don’t have high draft picks due to their yearly record standings. Their top pitching prospect in Chase Hamptom is out now with TJS. Their farm development system isn’t all that great. And of course, injuries.
YBC I think we said a lot of the same things but I disagree with you about player development. The pitching has gotten much better since Matt Blake took over.
@Joe For sure, I’m Team Blake. But he’s not working in the minors.
The farm being low comes from a few things. They haven’t drafted top 15 in about 20 years or so. They get no competitive balance picks and usually sign a FA with a QO attached. They have also recently graduated some prospects and last year their top prospects that stayed in the minors were injured or had poor seasons. Their drafting, especially pitchers, has gotten better in recent years.
The roster construction is Cashman relying on a bad analytics dept. and not recognizing which prospects to build around and which to sell. This year I think he did right by selling high on Caleb Durbin.
bottom 5 farm: they never draft lower than 20th and every year is win-now mode
everything else: cashman sucks
Its the Yankees way. They have 5 or 6 guys in their mid 30s aging with injury history all making $30m to $40m per season. Then a couple more guys like lemieihu and goldschmidt and bellinger in their early to mid 30s making $20m to $29m … they’re all exiting out of their primes / on the back side of their careers and entering the injury old-age portions of their careers. That ties up the majority of their payroll, so they’re forced to fill the remainder with kids & non roster invitee FAs.
They’re always in the playoffs so they draft at the end of every draft so they never get the stud 1st round picks that the tanking/rebuilding teams stockpile every season then what prospects they do manage to hit on tend to be traded every deadline for reinforcements so they always have a bad farm system.
Then for good or ill depending on your POV, they haven’t actually stripped it all down for a rebuild since the late 1980s/early 1990s. While impressive there’s been seasons over the past four drcades where the obvious answer was rebuild but they stubbornly added another 37 year old $30m per season veteran and rolled the dice hoping to chase the wildcard yet again.
Okay Hal
When you have a player injured for the whole year, the team should have a waiver against the luxury tax for a replacement.
No they shouldn’t. They made the deal, they should suffer. Teams who have less money don’t have the same luxury.
That would benefit teams signing players coming off Tommy John to two year deals. Basically, skewing things for teams with deep pockets.
Yankees don’t need charity or a bailout. They aren’t a church or an automaker.
Actually, it’s a good idea that injured players should not count toward the cap but only to the extent of insurance recoupment. This way owners do not have an excuse to pocket the money rather than reinvesting it into the product put onto the field.
For me it’s the starting rotation. Getting an experienced arm for back end of the rotation would be in their best interest. Could they make do with Will Warren or Carlos Carasco? I guess, but I’d feel a heck of a lot better with Kyle Gibson. But honestly, if it’s not Gibby, I say just go with what we have because I’m not sure there’s much better after Gibby.
As for a bat, that’s a bit trickier, but there has to be a trade scenario where we can get a decent bat and not take on the full salary. (Same could happen for the rotation I suppose) Obviously that means giving up better prospects, but I’m fine with that. Not every prospect works out and sometimes they outlive their trade usefulness.
The thing about Cashman’s statements today is, sometimes he’s just trying not to sound desperate, but man, the perception just comes off worse.
Let’s see what happens.
I always say pitching first, then worry about the rest. It seems teams with the better starting pitching/bullpen combo go farthest, even with an okay lineup.
I tend to agree. I also feel like we have some intriguing hitting prospects that could get a look.
No team should have a dedicated DH. Beyond being an abomination on the game, it should be something rotated through.
Ohtani, David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, Frank Thomas, Paul Molitor, Nelson Cruz, and many more would disagree.
I think it really depends… do you want a hitter that can rake or versatility among your fielders?
I would much rather watch Edgar Martinez get 3 hits than the pitcher whiff 3 times.
This is a pointless poll. Hal is not going to give them the money to make any more moves.
Could have IKF back from the Pirates
Without Gil and Cole, Rodon is the only other Yankees pitcher I can name off-hand. That’s a scary thought
F…r…i…e…d.
Oh yeah, forgot they signed him. Let’s see how he does in New York.
They are fried or cooked in hot oil.
Why not resign Lance Lynn for the fifth?
Warren is good , but have a lot of work to do.
Lynn would be ok, though I’m partial to Gibson.
Other option, they won’t make any big moves until closer to the deadline.
Why do the Yankees have so many pitching injuries? They have a Messey performance center don’t they?
Other
The Yankees don’t necessarily need to fix every hole immediately. In fact, their current situation could be a strategic opportunity to maximize the value of their existing roster depth while avoiding further luxury tax penalties.
Using players like Ben Rice as the DH and Oswaldo Cabrera at third base allows the team to focus on roster efficiency—getting the most out of the players they already have, rather than trading for high-priced talent.
Ultimately, the Yankees’ injury woes shouldn’t be seen as a crisis. Instead, they’re part of a strategy to leverage internal flexibility. This approach may not be flashy, but it’s grounded in solid team-building principles, payroll management, and the ability to construct a roster that can make a major move when the time is right.
I agree. I think the Yankees have enough internal pieces with prospects they typically block with high profile veteran free agents or trades, to *basically* replace virtually any and all of their IL players, at least functionally until they return,
They don’t need to trade for or sign anybody externally at this point, I don’t think….
Maybe the Yankees pitchers need more internal rotation to get the more external rotation.
I think the Yankees have legit pieces internally to step up and replace everybody they’re losing temporarily or for the season- maybe at like 80% or 75% of them, but they can do it.
The team is just deep enough to fill most of the holes from the inside, I think… that said…
Obviously some free agent/trade / bounce back candidate pitchers putting it together for the Yankees is quite tantalizing and hopefully finding a DJLM circa 2019/2020 style player to fill in all the gaps as our Super Utility Player… Fingers crossed.
Every team should aim to produce slider pitchers such as Glasnow, Snell, Ginkel and Puk, There’s a specific method to teach it and it has a special name within the details. It’s clear that even the Dodgers and Yankees aren’t able to develop pitchers the way they should. Their numerous Injuries show they don’t have the right approach.
When the season begins it’s surprising to see pitchers throwing a heavy ball because their arms are already strong. If a pitcher has to use weights to throw harder than natural it could lead to an injury.
I would worry about the Rotation more. I don’t think any of the starting pitchers are guaranteed to go at least 5-6 innings every time. The BP will be taxed by August. DH, I’d go with Pereira and Rice platoon and 3B Peraza with Cabrera as the super Utility guy. The young players need to step up once and for all. It’s now or never so some of them. The younger players could be more athletic on the bases, too. More stolen bases and fewer home runs will be more exciting.
Obviously they should just fold it in and start planning for ‘26, shop Goldschmidt & Williams at the deadline and possibly even Chisholm.