As the 2025 baseball season approaches its conclusion, the New York Yankees are already grappling with the realization that three of their starting pitchers will not be ready for the start of the 2026 season.

Carlos Rodón recently joined the list of sidelined players after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies and a bone spur from his left elbow. According to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, this procedure requires Rodón to refrain from throwing for eight weeks. General Manager Brian Cashman anticipates Rodón’s return in April or early May, provided he experiences no setbacks.

During the team’s end-of-season press conference, Cashman expressed uncertainty about whether Rodón’s injury would push the Yankees to pursue additional starting pitchers in the offseason.

“I’m not sure how this will influence our allocation of resources or how we strengthen the team,” Cashman remarked. “Our primary concerns are in the outfield and bullpen. The question remains whether we have sufficient talent internally or if we need external additions. You can never have too much pitching, but we need to ensure there’s roster space for Rodón when he returns.”

Cashman’s comments suggest the Yankees might not rush to acquire a high-profile starter merely to cover for Rodón’s absence, a risky move for a franchise aiming for its first championship since 2009.

Compounding the challenge, Rodón, Gerrit Cole, and Clarke Schmidt are all recovering from surgeries. Cole and Schmidt are rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery and will miss the Opening Day lineup. Rodón struggled through an injury-riddled 2023 season, raising concerns about his future performance. As for Cole, at 35, there is no assurance he will immediately regain his Cy Young form upon his return. Schmidt, who has undergone two ulnar collateral ligament reconstructions, won’t be available until the latter half of the season.

There’s also Luis Gil, who had his 2025 season delayed until August thanks to a spring training lat injury. He looked nothing like the pitcher who won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2024, as he lacked strikeout stuff while trying to limit his velocity in an effort to rein in his command problems.

As for the Yankees’ other healthy starters, Max Fried and 2025 rookies Cam Schlittler and Will Warren are all coming off career-high workloads. The Yankees should be wondering if all three can stay healthy again and erring on the side of caution as the league looks to adjust to Schlittler after his stellar introduction to the majors.

The Yankees do have a pair of top-100 pitching prospects in Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and Carlos Lagrange. They could get a chance to battle for Rodón’s rotation spot this spring, but they have just one start above Double-A between them after Rodriguez-Cruz’s last outing of 2025 came at Triple-A.

Chase Hampton, another highly-touted prospect, is also coming off Tommy John surgery.

Brendan Beck may be the Yankees’ most major league-ready pitching prospect, but there are questions about how his stuff will translate at the next level. The Yankees will have to add him to their 40-man roster this offseason if they don’t want to risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft.

The Yankees could certainly lean on their youth with some talented pitchers in the system, others expected back from injury, and more pressing needs on the roster. But they should also ask themselves if that is what the Dodgers, looking to repeat as champions, would do.

The answer is no.

Just last offseason, Los Angeles, fresh off kicking the Yankees’ butts in the World Series, signed Blake Snell to a $182 million contract. The rotation looked strong on paper at the time, but there were also injury concerns sprinkled in. Snell came with his own, but the Dodgers are a financial superpower, so they figured adding Snell to the group was a worthwhile luxury.

Fast forward to present day, and Snell has been the best pitcher in this postseason as he prepares to start Game 1 of the World Series.

With that in mind, the Yankees should be big-game hunting across the board this winter after getting bounced from postseason play in the ALDS. With regards to the rotation, they could do that without necessarily having to spend mega-millions right away.

While former Yankee Michael King, an injury risk, and Dylan Cease, coming off a down year, could be intriguing and expensive free agent options, among others, the trade market should offer some upgrades as well.

There’s a chance Tarik Skubal, arguably the best pitcher on the planet, will be one of them. The Yankees should be all over him if the Tigers decide to make him available, though that is not guaranteed and would come with a lofty prospect price, as well as an appetite to spend on a record-setting contract with Skubal set to hit free agency after the 2026 season.

Other potential trade targets could include Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta and Minnesota’s Joe Ryan, two All-Star pitchers.

But with so many starters already on hand, don’t be surprised if the Yankees take a quieter, more flexible approach to their rotation.

If the Bombers were to turn to one of their aforementioned prospects, they could always option them, move them to the bullpen or trade them once their veteran starters return from rehab assignments. All three outcomes could also apply to Warren, while the latter two could apply to Gil, who is out of options.

The Yankees could also re-sign someone like Ryan Yarbrough, a career swingman who did an admirable job as a rotation fill-in this past season, or Paul Blackburn, a career starter who worked as a mop-up man down the stretch. Both pitchers would be cheap, and there will be plenty of other free agents who fit that description.

Whether the Yankees want to think bigger than that remains to be seen, though, as Cashman only discussed his team’s needs and financial flexibility in vague terms last week.

“We have got to weigh the available marketplace,” Cashman said, “via free agency or trades, with the committed payroll vs. the available payroll thereafter and measure opportunities for some players knocking on the door, earning the right to maybe take the next step from down below.”