5 Gerrit Cole replacements the Yankees can sign immediately
The New York Yankees received troubling news on Monday. All-Star ace Gerrit Cole is set to undergo an MRI on his pitching elbow, per manager Aaron Boone. Cole "had difficulty" bouncing back between spring training starts.
That would be nothing short of a catastrophic loss for the Yankees. Cole is one of the best pitchers in baseball, coming off his seventh straight top-10 finish in Cy Young voting (and his first victory). That level of consistent excellence is virtually unheard of these days. Cole has been a staple atop the Yankees' bullpen for four years now, with three straight seasons of 30+ starts and 180+ innings pitched.
All of that is in jeopardy now. As New York awaits the results of the MRI, it would be wise to keep one eye on the free agent market. We don't know the extent of the injury yet, but elbow ailments are often complicated and problematic for pitchers. If there's even a chance for Cole to miss extended time, expect New York to add another arm to their arsenal.
This is an important season for the Yankees after their disappointing fourth-place finish in the AL East. Juan Soto is only signed for one year, folks. If the Yankees don't push all their chips in, the whole house of cards could tumble.
Luck isn't the right word, but the Yankees are fortunate enough to have several quality free agents still readily available deep into March. Here are five worthy targets.
5. Yankees could turn to fading legend Zack Greinke
Zack Greinke is 40 years old. Maybe "over the hill" is too harsh a phrase for one of the best to ever do it, but the six-time All-Star has lost a step (and a few MPH on his velocity). Last season with the Kansas City Royals was a struggle for Greinke, who went 2-15 in 30 games (27 starts) with a 5.06 ERA and 1.272 WHIP.
On one hand, Greinke was still impressively durable for a pitcher of his age and with his injury history. He managed 142.1 innings for a team in the MLB basement. He still packs a robust four-pitch arsenal with impressive location control, landing in the 98th percentile for walk rate (3.9 percent).
Unfortunately, that's about all that went well statistically. Greinke's fastball velocity dipped below 90 MPH on average and he struggled to avoid hard contact. He's not the No. 1 ace of yesteryear, to be sure. That said, as a one-year stopgap signing, maybe Greinke can still address a need for the Yankees.
At worst, he's in the bullpen by season's end — hopefully with Cole back in the rotation in time for the playoffs. At best, Greinke musters enough juice for a fruitful farewell tour with baseball's premier organization.