Outside of Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes, the Yankees don’t have a pitcher on their roster who started 20 regular season games for them last season.
Jameson Taillon, now a free agent, had the second-most starts (32) and innings pitched (177 ¹/₃) on the staff, ahead of Cortes — who was bothered by a groin injury — and Luis Severino, who was sidelined by a strained lat.
And Frankie Montas, acquired from Oakland at the trade deadline after the Yankees missed out on Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo, also will be back, but he’s coming off a disastrous first few months in The Bronx, where he was done in by a preexisting shoulder injury and poor performance.
Beyond that, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt should be depth pieces, but as of now, one would have to fill the No. 5 spot, especially since the Yankees don’t have any prospects knocking at the door to provide a boost to the rotation.
The Yankees did not extend Taillon a qualifying offer of $19.65 million and they so far haven’t valued Taillon at the amount he figures to get on the open market and they continue to show interest in Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodon.
Japanese right-hander Kodai Senga is another option.
Jacob deGrom, always considered a longshot, is off the table after signing a five-year, $185 million deal to leave the Mets and go to the Rangers on Friday night.
The mid-tier starting pitching free agent market is beginning to take shape, with Zach Eflin agreeing to a three-year, $40 million deal with the Rays, an offer reportedly matched by the Red Sox, despite coming off an injury-plagued season.
That came after left-hander Tyler Anderson went to the Angels for three years and $39 million.
If the Yankees don’t land a Verlander, Rodon or Senga, they could end up in the middle-tier of free agency, which includes not just Taillon, but ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi.
Another option could be Noah Syndergaard, who pitched reasonably well with the Angels and Phillies, despite diminished velocity following Tommy John surgery.
As of this week, the Yankees had not met with the former Met, who is 30, but they were interested in the right-hander leading up to the trade deadline in August.
The Yankees were also interested — again — in Jose Quintana at midseason before he was sent from Pittsburgh — where he pitched well for the first half of the season — to St. Louis, where he was lights-out.
That came after the lefty — who pitched in the Yankees minor league system before emerging as a standout starter with the White Sox — endured back-to-back seasons affected by injuries following a rough 2019 with the Cubs.
Quintana turns 34 next month, but if the early part of the offseason is any indication, he may fetch more than the Yankees are willing to pay.
There is a thought Gleyber Torres could be traded in exchange for pitching help, though one potential landing spot, Seattle, is no longer an option, thanks to Friday’s trade that sent second baseman Kolten Wong to the Mariners from Milwaukee in exchange for Jesse Winker, a lefty-swinging left fielder that may have made sense for the Yankees, as well.
The Yankees explored a trade with Miami for right-hander Pablo Lopez in exchange for Torres before the deadline, and could look to go down that route again.
