4 teams that should save Braves All-Star Bryce Elder from the minor leagues

3) The Yankees should save Bryce Elder from the minor leagues after Gerrit Cole's injury

The New York Yankees continued to have miserable injury luck as the one pitcher they could have realistically assumed would stay healthy, Gerrit Cole, will miss at least the first month of the season due to an elbow injury.

The Yankees avoided the worst, for now, but starting the season without Cole could be a horrific development with New York playing in the most competitive division in baseball, the AL East. Falling behind teams like the Orioles and Rays early on could eliminate the Yankees from division contention before their season even got off the ground.

Elder is obviously nowhere near as good as Cole, but the Yankees are a team lacking in the depth department. They sent pretty much all of their depth to the Padres in the Juan Soto trade and didn't really reinforce it this offseason. New York will presumably open the season with one of Luke Weaver, Cody Poteet, Will Warren, or Clayton Beeter in their rotation. Neither option is particular appealing.

Acquiring Elder not only gives the Yankees help now, but gives them a controllable starter who made 31 starts and threw 174.2 innings last season, who can help for years to come. Elder being a ground ball pitcher could make him a sneaky-good candidate to pitch in the home run-friendly Yankee Stadium as well.