Gerrit Cole avoids Tommy John surgery for now, how do Yankees fill rotation in the meantime? | Baseball Bar-B-Cast
The New York Yankees got some good news and bad news this week as star pitcher Gerrit Cole's elbow injury doesn't require Tommy John surgery...for now. Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman discuss what the Yankee ace's extended rehab of 10-12 weeks might mean for New York, what their rotation looks like without Cole and what possible arms they could add right now through free agency or a trade. Hear the full conversation on “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
JORDAN SHUSTERMAN: The latest news is that Gerrit Cole will not get Tommy John imminently. Dr. Neal ElAttrache has decided, you know what? You don't have a tear. Give it a rest. We'll see what happens. As far as we know, he does not have a tear, but this is still going to be at least a few months before he's throwing a baseball again.
JAKE MINTZ: Usually in these situations, what ends up happening is the person gets Tommy John surgery. Right? The track record of players with elbow injuries who rest and do PRP injections and rehab them coming-- never like, going under the knife, that's a small group of players. It is. Now, is there a chance Gerrit Cole is fine? And does he need TJ? Sure, absolutely, definitely a possibility. But I remain skeptical.
JORDAN SHUSTERMAN: That's generally where I fall on this. I mean, if he doesn't have a tear, I guess you can't just tell him to get the surgery. But it still is hard to feel great about this. And by the way, the most important thing is that the New York Yankees are not going to have Gerrit Cole for a couple of months. So that's a fact.
JAKE MINTZ: And how should the Yankees respond to this? I-- my mind is-- you have two options. OK? Either trust your pitching development and the young starters that you have in your system. Give Will Warren, Clayton Beeter, Luis Gil, give those guys a shot through April. Use them as the-- one of them as the five starter. Cycle through them as the five starter. The rest of your rotation if it stays healthy is still pretty good. If everyone pitches up to their capabilities, Roden, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes, and Marcus Stroman, like, that's a good rotation. That's a rotation that can make the playoffs, right?
Or sign Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, or overpay for Jesús Luzardo or Shane Bieber. Like, pick a lane. Either go all in, and this is a got to win, got to go for it year or it's not.
JORDAN SHUSTERMAN: To me, it's still that in some ways. There's not-- there's not really turning back once you trade it for one year of Juan Soto. And I think that's where-- where Yankees fans are sitting.
JAKE MINTZ: I'm fine with them rolling with the young guys to start the year. And if, like, Cole is out for longer or someone else gets hurt or is bad, then you can make a deal at that point. That's what like trades are for. But I don't see value in like signing Michael Lorenzen. I guess this is my point. No half measures Walter White.
