New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is expected to miss 1-2 months due to his elbow injury and will fly to Los Angeles to see a surgeon, the New York Post reported on Wednesday. Cole was sent for an MRI on Monday because he was feeling elbow discomfort between starts during Spring Training. Obviously, we all know what that could be a precursor to. For now, there’s no need to panic and the Yankees are taking a slow approach it seems. We’ll see what news comes from Cole’s trip to a specialist. It was unlikely Cole would be ready for his Opening Day start against the Houston Astros on March 28.
With Cole all but ruled out for this Opening Day start, who might the Yankees send to the hill against the Astros? It likely will be left-hander Carlos Rodon, who was expected to be second in the rotation. The Yankees could also opt for LHP Nestor Cortes or RHP Marcus Stroman. It’s also not out of the questions for Brian Cashman to go out and add another arm via free agency or trade. Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery remain on the open market. It’s unclear what the trade market could look like but White Sox LHP Dylan Cease also remains an option.
With Aaron Judge also dealing with injury during spring, it’s been a less-than-ideal start to the season for the Bronx Bombers, who enter 2024 with high expectations after trading for All-Star LF Juan Soto. Many fans and people in the media will point to panic this early. For me — a Yankees fan — it feels too early. In a worst case, Judge is on the injured list to start the season and Cole needs Tommy John surgery. Even if that is the case, while the rotation would be one gigantic question mark, it still doesn’t feel like a reason to give up on the season entirely. Let me tell you why.
Assuming the rotation can bounce back, it should be close to average with or without Cole. If Cashman makes another move for a starter, that would also go a long way. Bringing in Montgomery would mean plenty of lefties in the rotation but that’s not bad playing in Yankee Stadium. Also, the Yankees bullpen should be very solid this season. If the team has to dip into it a bit more, that may not be the worst thing in the world. The important thing to remember is how much better the lineup should be this season compared to last.
The Yankees had one of the worst offenses in baseball last season. That shouldn’t be the case in 2024 (even if Judge were to miss some time). Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham give the Yankees a ton of outfield depth. That’s three lefty bats with power; the Yankees have been starved for power lefties lately. It’s still very early but for now, Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton are healthy. All three can still contribute and shouldn’t be asked to do as much in the past with Soto and Judge as the heart of the order. Anthony Volpe enters his second season and should take a step forward.
So I’m not ready to hit the panic button before the season begins and you shouldn’t either. For fantasy baseball purposes, there’s no replacing Cole if you already had a draft or he was on your keeper/dynasty league. We do know drafting Cole in any format carries a ton of risk unless we get more concrete word on his status beforehand. If you can snag Cole late in a draft and he only misses a month or so, that would be a smart play. You could also draft Cole too high and he ends up missing the entire season. Weigh the risk and options and make your own decision.
For non-fantasy purposes, let’s see if the lineup can carry the team early on. If the offense starts the season hot, that would take a ton of pressure off the rotation. Also, for all we know, Rodon and Cortes bounce back, Clarke Schmidt takes a step forward and Stroman proves to be a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter. If all that happens, the Yankees should still be able to compete while looking to add players later in the season before the Trade Deadline.
