The New York Yankees are at a crossroads as they prepare to enter the 2025 regular season. They lost two key starting pitchers in Spring Training and lack the depth to fill the voids in their starting rotation.
Plenty of speculation has been that the Yankees will turn to the trade market to find a quality starting pitcher. Reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge has his sights set on one pitcher who could help vault the Yankees back into World Series contention.
The New York Yankees Need a Starting Pitcher
If the Yankees want an impact starter, they will only find one in the trade market. There are no pitchers available in free agency that will give them the boost they need. MLB analyst Joel Sherman went on “Pinstripe Post” to discuss what the Yankees might do in the trade market. He mentioned they could go after a few different pitchers, most notably Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcántara.
Could the Yankees add to the starting rotation before Opening Day?
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Alcántara missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he is back and throwing great in Spring Training. His fastball was touching 100 mph, and he seems to have everything back that once made him the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2022.
The only issue for the Yankees is that Alcántara has a massive price tag. The Marlins will only give him up if a team is willing to overpay. That may not be something the Yankees are eager to do now.
Yankees’ Current Rotation
The Yankees’ starting rotation to begin the season will consist of Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman, and Carlos Carrasco. That is not a list of names to strike fear into opposing hitters. They must improve this group if they are serious about returning to the World Series. They will be getting Luis Gil back at some point, but that may not be until two months into the season.
Judge realizes the Yankees must make a move if they are serious about contending. He has been a fan of Alcantara’s and knows he would be a needed boost to the rotation. Also, it helps that Alcantara has a team-friendly contract to pay him $17.3 million in 2025.
If the Yankees were to acquire Alcántara, he would immediately become their best pitcher. The last time we saw him, he was an innings-hog. His ability to go deep into games is something the Yankees would covet.
Like most teams, you can only go as far as your pitching takes you. Luckily, the Yankees have a strong bullpen, which could help keep the games low-scoring in the later innings. They need to make a move for a starting pitching; it is just a matter of when they do it.